The Siege
by Kellie Fay
Summary: Danny's favorite teacher has been exposed at school as a sorceress and has a hoard of angry parents at her doorstep.  Can Danny protect his teacher and his classmates without being exposed himself?
1. Chapter 1

The Siege

By Kellie Fay

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.

No I don't have a beta reader. I would very much like one!

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**Chapter 1 The Mystery of Sarah Daily.**

"Are they still in there?"

"I think so."

"What could they be talking about for three hours?

"Little Women are they all in there again?"

The last comment came from Lancer joining the twenty boys standing outside Mrs Tetslaff's classroom.

Part of today's Teen Health Day at Casper High included separate boy and girls open talks. Danny Tucker, and the rest of the ninth grade boys were imprisoned for an hour with Mr Lancer who lectured them about their reproductive system. The boys couldn't wait for the hour to be up.

The ninth grade girls ended up with Mrs Tetslaff, but Miss Daily asked if she could join in. Two hours later a note came out asking if they could have lunch brought to them. They went to regular classes after lunch, but when the last period rolled around Danny and Dash found they were having Math Lab with Mr Lancer instead of Miss Daily. Mrs Tetslaff and the girls had commandeered her again.

The last bell of the day rang twenty minutes ago, and all the girls were still in the classroom with Miss Daily and Mrs Tetslaff. The only indication that they were in there were the chuckles and giggles the boys could hear.

Tucker tugged on Danny's shirt and the two boys moved to the back of the crowd.

"Danny do you think that we aught to check on them or something?"

Danny gave his best friend a hard glare. "By we, you mean me, and in case you have forgotten Miss Daily can sense me even when I'm invisible. If she caught me in there listening to their conversation she'd hex me into next week."

Tucker had ever reason to be slightly worried, but Danny also had a reason to be cautious. Miss Daily was no ordinary teacher. She was also a sorceress, A magic user who chose to come to Amity Park to help Danny deal with the stress and trials of being both Danny Phantom and Danny Fenton. At first Danny and his friends resisted the intrusion of this adult, but quickly Sam, Tucker, Jazz and Danny, realized that they needed her adult perspective and experience in dealing with children like Danny who had some form of special powers.

Danny realized very quickly that having an adult confidant and friend somehow decreased a lot of the stress he was feeling in his life. Things he would never tell Sam, Tucker or Jazz he found himself telling her. Her home was protected against other ghosts or dark magic, and Danny felt safer there, and in her protected classroom, than he did in his own home. Not that it wasn't frustrating at times. Sarah had some strange ideas about the things Danny should learn. On Friday nights Danny would sneak out of his house after going to bed, and he and Sarah might go though some formal training, or just a game of tag or hide and seek. Sometimes Danny and Sarah would just float around the city on her flying cape, and Danny would rest on the cape with her, and just talk about whatever came out of his head. That's when Sarah would try to explain to him that most of what he was dealing with was normal, or she would explain to him that he had to create his own code of ethics for having ghost powers. At the moment Danny's code of ethics warned him that spying on a bunch of girls with Miss Daily in attendance would be a bad idea.

Or maybe it was just his well developed sense of self preservation

The opening of the door jarred Danny from his thoughts. All the girls came pouring out of the room smiling and talking to each other. For some inexplicable reason Sam Valerie, and Paulina came out of the room at the same time. They all turned and looked at Danny together then giggled.

Danny looked at the three girls nervously then at Tucker. "Tuck, should I be worried that they're looking at me and laughing?"

"Absolutely" Tucker said sounding a little nervous himself.

Even Dash noticed the attention. "If three girls who all hated each other started laughing when they saw me, I'd make a run for it, Fenton." He said.

Now Danny was really worried. _When Dash puts the fact that we're both guys against girls before the fact that he hates me it's time to listen._ Danny was about to try to disappear, when Miss Daily came out of the room and smiled at him.

"What's wrong Danny?" His teacher asked with a mischievous smile. "You look as if you're being hunted."

Danny took a glance back at Valerie speaking to Star. Both girls looked back at Danny and giggled before talking more.

"Am I?" He shot back slightly nervous. "I'm starting to get the feeling that I was the major topic in there."

Sam couldn't help but laugh as she joined them. "Not directly," she said, "but I think a few girls knew that some of the conversations were about specific boys, and even though your name didn't come up, I think you were an anonymous topic."

"I was?" Danny said worriedly. Why was he a topic of conversation among girls.

"Was I mentioned at all?" Tucker asked excitedly.

Sam chuckled at that. "Not in the least," she said with a smirk. "Sorry, Tuck."

Before Tucker could press it or protest Miss Daily changed the subject. "Sam, do you need to see any one else before we go to the mineral shop?"

That got both boys attention. "Mineral shop?" Danny asked.

"There's a mineral shop about five blocks from the Skulk and Lurk," Sam explained, "I'm going to show Miss Daily where it is. She needs some quartz, agate, fluorite, and hematite."

"I thought we were going to your house this afternoon. You said you had some chores for us?" Danny said slightly suspicious. As much as he liked Miss Daily, he didn't quite trust her with Sam and Tucker.

"You two go ahead," Miss Daily said. "Sam and I will meet you there."

Danny frowned, but he didn't have a reason to argue. Instead he said, "we could come with you."

Sam sighed and rolled her eyes. "Danny I'll be fine really. You two go on ahead."

_Translation,_ Danny thought to himself, _Go away I want to talk to Sarah alone. _ Danny wasn't sure why Sam wanted to talk to Sarah alone, but she obviously did. Danny wondered if it didn't have something to do with the fact that he was an anonymous topic of conversation in class today. Even so he didn't let his suspicions show.

"Okay, okay I get it. You two want to have a little girl time together," Danny said sounding annoyed. "Geeze what went on in there today? All the girls are still buzzing about it." It was true the few girls who were still milling around were in small groups still chatting and giggling away from the boys.

"I'll tell you later," Sarah said with a smile. She handed Danny a slip of paper. "You and Tucker go on ahead. Here is a list of the things you guys can take care of while I'm gone, and Danny, stay away from the green house and my new plants today. Some of that stuff might not be safe for our mutual invisible friend."

The mutual invisible friend was a euphemism for his ghost half, so Danny took the advice to heart. Not too long ago Danny learned the hard way that when Sarah Daily said that a place and an object is dangerous to ghosts she means it, and Danny should stay away.

"Okay, Miss Daily," Danny said absently passing Tucker the list. "Tuck and I will wait for you over at you're place."

"I'll see you in an hour or so." Sarah said with a grin. Then she and Sam walked off.

Danny couldn't help but stare after Sam and Miss Daily walk off together. Tucker waited a few minutes then asked, "Danny you okay?"

"Huh? Oh yeah Tuck I'm fine," he said slowly still watching the pair. Then with a deep breath he said. "Let's go."

Next up Chapter 2 Bikona

"Okay Sominus umbrus, or the Bikona Suku. It didn't have an English name on it so I'm guessing it's from someplace really remote and exotic, and - HEY!"

Quite suddenly and without warning Danny snatched Tucker's hat off of his head, and took in a deep breath. "It's your hat!" Danny said in a quiet, but delighted voice. He took in a deep breath, as if Tucker's hat was a bouquet of flowers. "It smells so nice. What did you do to it?"

_Oh man my hat fell into that damn box! No wonder Danny's acting so weird!_ The screen flashed up and Tucker quickly read the information.

_The Bikona Suku, also known by the natives of Thailand as the ghost plant. Priests and others would plant these flowers several miles away from any shrine or temple to keep ghosts away from the shrines. It is said that the flowers attract and calm restless spirits, pacifying them making them unable and unwilling to harm travelers to the temples. Extremely endangered today less than four hundred known plants remaining. _


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Bikona

Tucker and Danny pulled their scooters up into Miss Daily's driveway. They parked the scooters in her garage then went through the back door into the house.

"I still don't get it," Tucker said closing the door. "Why does she leave her doors open like that?"

Danny laughed. "Tuck her doors aren't just opened, their spelled. We're the only ones who can open her doors. If someone she doesn't want in tries the door they'll find them locked. It's just like her wards. I can get in, every other ghost is locked out."

"Oh," Tucker still wasn't use to having a teacher who used magic as an everyday thing.

"So what's the first thing on our list?" Danny asked Tucker.

Tucker read down. "Well I'm supposed to go into her greenhouse to take out and check over a plant shipment. You are to take care of the upstairs bedroom door, says here it creeks, oh and she's reminding you to stay away from the green house and her new plants."

"I don't even want to know," Danny said rolling his eyes. "The only time Sarah makes me stay away from anything is when it's probably going to mess with my ghost powers. Well have a good time gardening Tuck. I'm staying in the house."

Tucker laughed. He couldn't blame Danny for his caution. Danny's first trip into Miss Daily's house came with a warning to not enter what she called her inner library. Danny had of course and came into contact with a magical bracelet that could hold him mesmerized for hours. Danny, Sam, Jazz, and Tucker learned quickly that when Miss Daily said 'don't touch' it was usually for their own good.

Tucker went into the green house, and took a deep breath of the intoxicating scents in the room. Even though Tucker accepted the label of technogeek he still liked plants. His mother had a small container garden in their back yard, and he spent many summer afternoons with his mom helping out. He just didn't want to have to eat them.

Tucker opened the three boxes, and found a small Japanese maple bonsai, a large pot of four different herbs, and a large tropical plant with wide broad emerald leaves and snow white lily like flowers. Curled up in the last box was a small green monkey ghost snoozing comfortably.

"Oh great," Tucker muttered. He didn't have a thermos with him, but the little ghost wasn't causing any harm. He was simply sleeping with one of the white flowers wrapped securely in his arms.

"Too bad Sarah doesn't keep any magic ghost catching stuff out here in the greenhouse," Tucker said. He tried to gently pick up the ghost, but suddenly it's eyes opened, and it shot up into the air, throwing the box up in the air which landed on top of Tucker's head. Tucker knocked the box off his head losing his hat in the process, and chased the little monkey ghost around the greenhouse.

"Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!" The little ghost shouted giggling like a maniac. Tucker managed to chase it out of the greenhouse door, and it flew off away from Miss Daily's house.

_Oh great another ghost Danny will probably have to chase down,_ Tucker thought to himself looking for his hat. He found it in the box that the monkey ghost had been sleeping in. He wiped off the white powder that coated his hat, put it back on, threw all the boxes out, and went to read the labels.

_Hmmm lavender, sage, and rosemary; geeze how many varieties of herbs does one sorceress need? Japanese maple, yeah figured that one out. I think she uses maple leaves for magic too. Hmm this one's new. Bikona Suku. Scientific name, Sominus umbrus. Doesn't it have an English name? Those were the flowers the ghost had. This is probably the one she doesn't want Danny near._ Tucker went through the routine of checking all the plants for damage. All of them seemed to be in excellent condition, so Tucker watered them, and placed them where the instructions said to. Once he was done he left the greenhouse and went back to the house. On the way he saw the Box Ghost near Miss Daily's trash pile. He was sitting with his arms wrapped around one of the boxes and inhaling the contents laughing as he did so.

_Okay this is weird even for a ghost,_ Tucker thought. He moved quickly and quietly back to the house. "Danny," Tucker called out. "The Box Ghost is right outside, gimme the thermos!"

Danny poked his head out from the third bedroom, and tossed Tucker his empty thermos. "I'll meet you outside," Danny said transforming into his alter ego.

Tucker went back outside. Danny floated above the scene, but Tucker quickly figured out that Danny wasn't going to be necessary. They found the Box Ghost laying on the floor amidst the garbage with the box from the white flowers now on his head and he was giggling just like the monkey ghost.

"Be...Be...Beware!" The Box Ghost said between laughs. He didn't jump up or throw any of the other boxes at either boy. He just lay there on the ground. He looked up once at Tucker, and seeing the thermos just laughed. "You are going to trap me again in that cylindidly, I mean cilinderally...In THAT!"

Danny and Tucker looked at each other confused then Tucker simply pressed the button on the side of the thermos and sucked the Box Ghost inside even while the ghost still laughed.

Danny landed on the ground and began inspecting the box. "What on earth was in this box Tuck, pot?"

"It didn't look like it," Tucker said getting slightly nervous.

Danny leaned down and took a tentative sniff inside the box. Then he took a deep breath. "Smells kinda nice," he said.

"Um Danny don't do that," Tucker said pulling him away from the box. "Remember Miss Daily didn't want you near anything associated with the plants today."

"Okay okay," Danny said defensively. He changed back into his human form, rose to his feet, and moved back into the house. Tucker followed reluctantly vowing to get on Miss Daily's computer as soon as he was finished with his part of the list.

His second task involved installing her new DVD player. Danny helped with that holding wires and pieces when he was told too. About half way through the job, Danny gave Tucker an odd look. "Tuck you didn't make a new body spray again did you?"

"No," Tucker said confused at the odd question. "Why?"

Danny sniffed the air again. "I dunno, I keep smelling something weird in the house. It's a nice kinda weird, but I don't know what it is."

Tucker sniffed the air. "I don't smell anything. Maybe you'd better go outside for some fresh air or something, _and while you're doing that I'm going to find out more about that plant._

Danny shrugged. "I'm alright," he insisted." Instead of going outside, once their work was done, Danny followed Tucker to Miss Daily's computer and leaned over his shoulder while Tucker typed in the information.

"Okay Sominus umbrus, or the Bikona Suku. It didn't have an English name on it so I'm guessing it's from someplace really remote and exotic, and - HEY!"

Quite suddenly and without warning Danny snatched Tucker's hat off of his head, and took in a deep breath. "It's your hat!" Danny said in a quiet, but delighted voice. He took in a deep breath, as if Tucker's hat was a bouquet of flowers. "It smells so nice. What did you do to it?"

_Oh man my hat fell into that damn box! No wonder Danny's acting so weird!_ The screen flashed up and Tucker quickly read the information.

_The Bikona Suku, also known by the natives of Thailand as the ghost plant. Priests and others would plant these flowers several miles away from any shrine or temple to keep ghosts away from the shrines. It is said that the flowers attract and calm restless spirits, pacifying them making them unable and unwilling to harm travelers to the temples. Extremely endangered today less than four hundred known plants remaining. _

"Great," Tucker muttered. "Only four hundred of these in the world and someone had to send one to Miss Daily," Tucker said. He turned to look for Danny. He found his friend laying on the floor lazily hugging Tucker's hat to his chest and taking slow deep breaths. "Ghost attractant," Tucker said with a sigh. "And now Danny is most definitely calm, and passive, so maybe I can get him to dry out." Tucker spoke to Danny as if her were a small child. "Danny," Tucker said sing song style. "Time to give Tucker his hat back."

Danny opened his eyes and Tucker saw the same slightly crazy manic look he had seen earlier on the little monkey ghost. "No," Danny said giving an odd dopy smile.

_Oh Danny thinks he's funny,_ Tucker said with a sigh. He was pretty sure that Danny wasn't in real control of himself, but still it looked like if he could Danny would have a little fun with his hat. "Danny my hat fell into the box when I was taking out that plant. You're tripping out on that smell just like the Box Ghost."

"Thought so," Danny answered completely unconcerned. "I can't seem to stop myself. It smells so nice like candy!" Danny closed his eyes and took in another deep breath of the hat.

"Okay Danny that's enough!" Tucker said forcefully. He tried to take his hat back from Danny, but with a giggle Danny went intangible taking the hat with him.

"No!" Danny said laughing again. He opened one eye, giving Tucker an odd look then laughed again. Every time Tucker tried to grab the hat Danny simply went intangible without moving more than necessary .

"That does it Danny," Tucker said more determined than ever to get his hat back. "I'm bringing out the heavy artillery now." He went to the kitchen leaving his friend laying on the floor, and dialed the telephone.

"Hey Miss Daily? It's Tucker. We've got a problem."

Next Chapter Dazed Danny

"So lets get that pollen laden hat away from Danny," Sam said impatiently. To Danny she said gently. "Danny, give Sammy Tucker's hat."

Danny looked at Sam and giggled. "Alas my beauty I cannot," he said.

Tucker folded his arms watching the exchange. "Like I didn't try that."

Sam was getting impatient "Danny give me the hat."

Danny breathed in the scent of the hat and just smiled impishly back. "No," he said.

Now Tucker snickered.

Sam reached out and tried to snatch the hat from Danny's grasp but like with Tucker he just turned himself and the hat intangible and laughed at Sam's efforts to grab it.

Tucker couldn't resist. "So you just take it back, huh Sam?"


	3. Chapter 3

The Siege chapter 3

By Kellie Fay

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.

I would like to thank Kidwrangler for volunteering to be my beta reader.

Chapter 3: Dazed Danny

Twenty minutes later Sarah Daily and Sam Manson entered the house. "Tucker, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't I leave explicit orders that Danny not be exposed to any of my new plants?" Miss Daily asked, slightly annoyed.

"We didn't!" Tucker insisted. "Not exactly. There was some kind of monkey ghost in the box, and my hat fell in! Before I knew what was going on, Danny had my hat, and he won't give it back!"

"What do you mean he won't give it back?" Sam asked, puzzled. "You just take it back!"

Tucker folded his arms, and tried to remind himself that Sam had no idea what had been going on here. "If it's so easy why don't you try," he said with a grin.

Sam marched over to the spot on the floor where Danny was laying; hugging the hat as if it was a favorite teddy bear. "Danny?" Sam asked, puzzled.

Danny opened his eyes, which looked glazed and unfocused, but he smiled and giggled at seeing his best friend. "Sam!" He said with a chuckle. "Beautiful, beautiful Sam! Dark and fierce like the thunderstorm. Soft and gentle like silk…the beautiful black rose complete with graceful thorns."

Sam looked back up at Tucker. "Okay who is this guy and what has he done with Danny?"

Sarah snickered a bit at Danny. Tucker looked back down at his friend as well. He didn't know Danny had a poet's heart. "It's not Danny, well not exactly. It's whatever was in that box that we can't see that did this to him."

"It's the pollen from the flowers," Miss Daily said. "Some of the pollen was in the box, and it got on your hat when it fell in. The reports I got on plant before they shipped it to me said that it was the flowers that pacified the ghosts."

"So let's get that pollen laden hat away from him," Sam said impatiently. Turning to Danny she said gently, "Danny, give Sammy Tucker's hat."

Danny looked at Sam and giggled. "Alas my beauty, I cannot," he said.

Tucker folded his arms watching the exchange. "Like I didn't try that."

Sam was getting impatient "Danny, give me the hat."

Danny breathed in the scent of the hat and just smiled back impishly. "No."

Now Tucker snickered.

Sam reached out and tried to snatch the hat from Danny's grasp, but just like he'd done with Tucker he turned himself and the hat intangible, and laughed at Sam's efforts to grab it.

Tucker couldn't resist. "So you'll just take it back, huh Sam?"

Sam began to become frustrated. "Danny, this isn't funny!"

That only made Danny laugh more.

"How can he be totally tripping out and still have enough concentration to go intangible?" Tucker asked.

Miss Daily moved into the kitchen. "Danny's been able to go intangible since the beginning, and he had trouble controlling it at first. I don't think it requires a lot of concentration. He once told me that in the first three months he sometimes did it in his sleep."

"I guess," Tucker said watching his teacher reach into her cookie jars. "I suppose we still don't know how Danny does half the stuff he does." Then with a glare at Sarah, he said, "and I don't remember how I did it, either."

There was one thing about Miss Daily that Sam, Tucker, Danny and Jazz all agreed on. She had a way of encouraging people to talk to her, without using her powers to force them. Jazz told the others once that most likely Miss Daily had all those psych books because as a guardian to teens with super powers, she had to be able to be their therapist. Tucker was pretty sure Jazz talked to Miss Daily about Danny and about their parents, and he didn't doubt Sam did too.

Danny always tried to be protective of Sam and Tucker, and had tried to discourage Miss Daily from involving them with his problem. Sarah had other ideas, however, and she had managed to chat with Tucker privately. He then confessed to her his bouts of jealousy, and his encounter with Desiree. He hadn't given many details, but Sarah had surprised him with her insights into his feelings. She had assured him what he was feeling was normal, and added how many children with powers had to deal with jealous friends, and sometimes even lost friends because of what they had become.

At that point, Tucker started looking at his own problems in a new light. Sarah told him it wasn't going to be the last time he was going to feel jealous of Danny. It was how he dealt with his jealousy that was going to be important. Fortunately, Sarah was helping him do exactly that.

Sarah grabbed three chocolate chip cookies from her jar. "Feeling jealous again?" she asked with a grin.

Tucker looked back at Danny lying on the floor, laughing at Sam, who was still trying, without success, to get Tucker's beret. "Not right now," he admitted with a smile. "Danny's never gonna live this down."

Sarah sensed he didn't want to talk about his problems right now. Her tone went back to something very business like. "Tucker, about what time do you think Danny was exposed to the pollen?"

Tucker thought. "It was four when I was done in the greenhouse. That's when we found the Box Ghost with his head practically inside the box the plant came in. Danny took a whiff of that box, too. He said it smelled nice." He shrugged. "I never noticed the flowers having any kind of smell. Then we were working on the DVD player. Danny said he could smell it again, but that's probably because I was nearby. He didn't take my hat from me until about a quarter to five."

"And it's five thirty now," Sarah said glancing at the clock. "Now we have to see how long it takes him to come out of this. I think we can get the hat from him if we distract him. Get ready to grab it if he goes for the cookies."

Tucker nodded and they both went back into the room where Danny was gazing at Sam with a lazy smile on his face. "Ahhh my love, the fiercer you are the more beautiful you become."

Sarah and Tucker both smiled at Danny's antics. "I'd say that not only does the Bikona cause Danny to lose all his inhibitions, it removes the filter between his brain and mouth. I'd eat this up while he's like this, Sam. Later, if he remembers what he did while under the plants effects, he's going to be mortified."

Sam let loose a frustrated sigh and looked up at Sarah. "If he remembers, is this going to scare him away from me like Ember did?"

_Huh?_ Tucker wasn't sure what Sam meant by that, but Sarah gave him a hand signal and he knew he shouldn't ask.

"Possibly," Sarah said evenly. "But if you act as if you understand, and you weren't taking what he said seriously, he might not get scared away too far. Now let's see if we can get our happy little half ghost to sober up a bit."

Sarah knelt down next to Danny and dangled a cookie over his head. "Danny wanna cookie?" She said as if speaking to a little child.

Danny's eyes went wide and happy as he reached with one hand for the treat, keeping his other hand firmly wrapped around the hat. "Cookie!" he shouted, exactly like a toddler.

"Reach for the cookie, Danny!" Sarah said, keeping Danny's attention on her. She nodded to Tucker, and as she released the cookie, Tucker was able to grab his hat before Danny could think about going intangible. Delighted, Danny promptly started gobbling down the treat. Sarah offered Danny another cookie which he also wolfed down, not appearing to miss the hat. When Sarah offered Danny the last cookie she said, "Tucker, run while you can. Go home and don't come back until everything you have on is completely clean and free of pollen."

"You got it, Miss D," Tucker said, giving Sam's hand a quick squeeze as he went by. "Have fun with Danny Giggles," he snickered. He was out of the door before Sam could even say goodbye.

Once Danny finished the cookies, Sarah knelt down and rested her hand on his forehead, trying to read his thoughts. "He's pretty buzzed," she commented with a grin. "His attention span is almost non existent right now. He'll talk to us as long as we're right here, but if we move away he'll forget we're around." Suddenly, she pulled her hand away from Danny's forehead and shook her own head sharply. "Oh! Good thing Danny's not a telepath or else we'd all be tripping out right now. You know, if you ever wanted to hear Danny tell you how much he cares about you, now is the time to grill him. Its said truth can be found at the bottom of a wine bottle…well I guess it can be found within these flowers too."

Sam smiled at the thought. "Maybe, but it wouldn't be Danny honestly saying it," she said wistfully.

Sarah laughed. "This is Danny as honest as he can be. He has to tell you the absolute truth now, he can't help it. When he's sober he thinks about what he wants to say before he says it."

"I guess," Sam said. She sat down on the floor next to Danny. Instantly Danny snuggled next to Sam with a contented grin on his face. Sam wiped the cookie crumbs from Danny's shirt.

"I feel so heavy," Danny complained with a slight frown on his face. He yawned and closed his eyes. "Tired."

"I think the pollen is starting to wear off," Miss Daily said. Then to Danny she whispered softly, "Just relax Danny."

Danny yawned again and cuddled closer to Sam. Sam looked down at him and shrugged. "Well it doesn't look like I'm going anywhere any time soon. So what's on my reading agenda today?"

"How about a botanical report on our new friend in the green house?" Sarah suggested. She handed Sam the folder of papers and went off to straighten up her home.

Next Chapter 4 Sobering up:

"You're making more of these plants?" Danny asked warily.


	4. Chapter 4

The Siege chapter 4

By Kellie Fay

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.

I would like to thank Kidwrangler for volunteering to be my beta reader.

Reviews would make the insecure author very happy

Chapter 4: Sobering up

Cookies eaten and hat taken away, Danny searched for something else to hang on to. Spying Sam's backpack nearby, he snagged it and dragged the purple material closer. After fumbling around a bit and making himself all but cross eyed, he decided it was too difficult to get it up to his face. He settled for plopping his head into Sam's lap and snuggling the backpack into the crook of one arm. Sam was surprised, but took her sudden role as a pillow with equanimity, simply raising the folder of papers high enough to let him cuddle. As she read about Miss Daily's new botanical acquisition, Danny would look up at her every few minutes and give her a goofy smile. After a while he closed his eyes, and grew very still. A puzzled expression crossed his face. After ten minutes of no wiggling and no smiles, Sam looked down and called gently, "Danny?"

Danny didn't move, make a sound, or even change his rate of breathing. Convinced he was simply asleep, Sam went back to her reading.

She'd barely made her way through another half page when she heard a cautious, confused voice murmur softly, "Sam?"

"Danny?" Sam put the notes down beside her on the floor and faced her friend. His eyes were open, alert and wary, but he seemed to be having trouble focusing.

"Did you call me?" Danny asked, puzzled.

Not sure of his state of mind, Sam nodded and said gently, "A few minutes ago. I was just checking up on you. I thought you'd fallen asleep."

"No," Danny said softly, still puzzled. "I...I could hear you, but it's like the rest of me is in slow motion."

Sam smiled and gently combed her hand through his hair. "It's all right Danny. You just relax and recover."

It seemed that Danny was done relaxing, though. He frowned, trying to figure out what she was talking about. "Recover?" he asked. "Recover from what? Where's Tucker, why am I lying on the floor, and...am I in your _lap_?" His voice squeaked up a bit at the end.

Sam watched a deep flush flood up Danny's face from his neck to his hairline. She repressed a chuckle, realizing he'd just noticed his position and probably wanted to move a more respectful distance away. "You're lying on the floor because that's where you planted yourself," Sam explained. "As for Tucker, what do you remember after getting here?"

Danny frowned in concentration. "Miss Daily wanted Tuck to work in the greenhouse alone. I was fixing a door upstairs. The Box Ghost showed up…then we came back in and started setting up Sarah's new DVD player." Danny now looked even more puzzled. "Sam, did I trip another one of Sarah's Security Spells?"

Sam wondered how much Danny remembered of the last couple of hours. "Why do you ask?"

Danny's expression wrinkled up in intense concentration. "Cuz I really started to feel weird."

"Weird?" Sam echoed.

Danny nodded slowly. "Like that time when we were eleven. We were helping you and your parents clean up after their New Year's party and Tucker thought it would be easier if he just drank all the half filled glasses of champagne and other drinks instead of carrying them one by one into the kitchen to dump in the sink."

Sam remembered that. Tucker had started it, and Danny was soon copying him. Before she or her parents knew what hit them they were forced to deal with a pair of very tipsy boys. That marked the day that Sam's parents started complaining about Danny, even though it had been Tucker's idea.

It also marked the first time Sam noticed that every now and then Danny's father had a stroke of pure brilliance. He suggested a suitable punishment, and Tucker's parents approved. Both boys had had to recover from their hangovers without any remedies except time. To this day neither Danny nor Tucker would touch a drop of alcohol.

"You felt drunk?" Sam asked.

Again it took Danny a minute to answer. "Sort of, but not the same. I couldn't concentrate. I felt like I was floating on pink clouds and sinking underwater at the same time."

"Pink clouds?" Sam asked with a chuckle. Danny shot her a dark look and struggled to get into a seated position, but his arms and legs refused to cooperate.

"Why can't I get up?" Danny asked, worry creeping into his voice.

"It's all right Danny," Sam said, patting his shoulder a little to try and reassure him. "Do you remember Miss Daily telling you and Tucker that you shouldn't go near any of the plants she had shipped here this week?"

Danny thought a moment. "Yeah, but I didn't."

"You examined the box, though," Sam reminded him.

"Only for a few seconds," Danny answered back, concerned. "Wait…the box did something to me? You mean the Box Ghost did this?"

"Not exactly," Miss Daily said coming over, brushing a little dirt off her hands from the greenhouse. She knelt down next to the pair. "The box had pollen in it from the flowers. Tucker got some on his hat, so when you were working together you got exposed. How do you feel now?"

Danny sighed and shut his eyes against the light. "I'm seeing spots in front of my eyes, and every time I try to get up the room starts spinning."

Danny felt Sarah gently touch his forehead. "There's still some pollen in your system, but you don't seem to be having a lot of problems coming out of it. I was worried how your dual physiology would be affected by the Bikona."

Danny sighed again. "If it helps, I feel like I'm getting better, but I still feel dizzy."

"You feel like you still want to just lay there?" Sarah asked.

Danny nodded slowly, "I really don't feel like getting up, but I'd like to at least get on the couch." He glanced up at Sam, but started blushing again. He managed to wriggle a bit, but that was it. Frustrated, he said, "I can't seem to even sit up without the world feeling like a giant Tilt-A-Whirl, and I feel like I've got lead weights on my arms and legs."

"All right. Let's see if we can get you as far as the couch," Sarah said.

Gently sliding Danny's head off her leg and onto the floor, Sam stood up and stretched a little, then took hold of him under his arms. Miss Daily got him at the knees and together they managed to manhandle Danny over to the couch. "For a half ghost you're amazingly heavy," Sam grunted.

"I'll make you something that might help clear your head," Sarah said, patting him on the shoulder.

"Please," Danny said, trying to take deep breaths against the nausea.

As Sarah headed into the kitchen, Danny turned back to Sam. "You still didn't tell me what happened after the Box Ghost," he said.

Sam made sure his head wasn't going to slide off the pillow, and tugged down his t-shirt. "You don't remember after the Box Ghost?" she asked.

Danny frowned. "I remember helping Tucker with the DVD player," he said thoughtfully, "then I started feeling weird, but a happy kind of weird. I know Tucker was looking something up on the computer, but after that everything gets fuzzy."

Sam couldn't help herself. She breathed a deep sigh of relief that Danny couldn't remember what he had said to her when she came in. She wasn't sure which one of them would be more embarrassed if he had. "By the time Miss Daily and I got here you were pretty buzzed," Sam explained. "You were babbling about anything that came into your head. You really weren't making much sense." She sat down at the other end of the sofa, moving Danny's feet to give herself a little more room.

Sarah came out of the kitchen, carefully carrying a mug of tea, and could tell from Danny's face that he wasn't happy. He tried to reach for the mug but his arms and hands still weren't under his control. Sarah didn't say anything, just put an arm behind his shoulders to hold him up a bit, and brought the straw to his lips. Feeling like two year old, Danny scowled and said, "In other words I was pretty much making a fool of myself."

"It was just here," Sarah said soothingly. "Only Sam, and Tucker saw, and you know they won't tell anybody."

"Tell, no. Show pictures, maybe."

"No pictures," Sam said firmly. _And if Tucker managed to take any when I wasn't looking, he won't have them for long,_ she thought fiercely.

Danny sipped at the tea, and scrutinized his math teacher a bit suspiciously. "So why did you get a plant that makes ghosts high?"

"It was sent to me by an old friend," Sarah explained. "Bikona is pretty rare and endangered. Sam's had a lot of success raising her rare Venus fly traps, so she's going to help me make leaf cuttings of this one. Most Bikona plants only have male flowers. There are only a few dozen plants that are female, so it's hard to cross pollinate. Once the leaf cuttings take, we can send them to different universities to be studied."

"You're growing _more_ of these plants? To use on ghosts?" Danny asked warily.

"We're trying to preserve the species," Sarah corrected. "Not see how many ghosts we can make loopy. I promise you it's not going to end up at your local florist any time soon. Some of the ancient legends say that Bikona is good for human medicine, too, so I want to do a little research. I had been thinking about asking your mom to analyze it for me, but given how you reacted to the Bikona I think I'll have to pass on that idea. I think it's too risky to give her a sample. You could be accidentally exposed."

"Please don't," Danny said with a slight whine.

Sarah chuckled. "You must be feeling better now. You're complaining." She settled him back down on the sofa pillows and set the tea on a side table.

"Funny," Danny said. He wanted to get up, but found his limbs were still uncooperative.

"Just rest, Danny." Sarah smiled understandingly. "I'm sorry you got exposed before I could warn you. I did want to see how you'd react to it, and how much exposure you can tolerate, but I was going to ask first."

"I know you would," Danny said closing his eyes and leaning his head back. "It's not your fault Tucker brought the pollen out with him. You weren't even here." He thought maybe Miss Daily's tea was starting to help, but he still sounded tired when he asked, "Do you really still want to do your tests?"

Sarah nodded. "For a few reasons." Before she could explain, Danny started reciting them wearily.

"You need to know how it affects me directly, starting from beginning to end. Sam, Tuck and Jazz need to know how I act when I get into that stuff so they'll know what's wrong with me if I start acting crazy. You need to know how long this stuff will stay in my system. You need to know if you can use it for medicines for me, and you need to figure out how to keep me from being accidentally exposed to it again."

"For crying out loud, Danny! I've only given you test potions twice, both times you needed the help, and they were designed around your human physiology. You act like all I do is use you for a guinea pig!"

"Sorry," Danny said, peeking out from under his eyelashes and not sounding all that apologetic. "Most of your potions are fine. I just have problems with stuff that makes me not remember whatever I did."

"Fair enough," Sarah said. "Don't worry. Going into the tests you'll be very aware of why you have memory blanks, and if you want, I'll have Tucker tape it so you can see what you did. But that will be your decision."

"Some decision," Danny muttered. "Know what kind of fool you become when you're under a weird plant's spell, or keep yourself in the dark knowing that others know."

"Well, it's your decision, Danny," Sarah said briskly. "I didn't know it would block your memory, but you know your friends and I won't let anything happen to you."

"I know," Danny said with a sigh. "And that's the reason I'm agreeing to it. If I don't, you know we'll end up in a situation where we'll need the stuff and you won't know everything about how it affects me."

"Now you're thinking like a guardian," Sarah said with a smile. "Rest. Have some more tea. Take a nap. I'll give you a week before I expose you again." She picked up the tea mug and handed it down to Sam. Stretching the kinks out of her legs she headed back to the greenhouse as Sam folded herself gracefully to the floor.

"Gee, a whole week," she heard Danny say sarcastically.

"Shut up and drink," was Sam's fond reply.

Sarah smiled to herself. She needed to take care of the rest of the Bikona plants before they dried out in the greenhouse, and whether Sam knew it or not, the young Goth needed to take care of Danny.

Next Chapter 5 More Ghost nip

Yes I know I've done this once but I needed to do a second one. This one is more in Danny's POV and well he gets a stronger dose this time.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I see," Miss Daily said dryly. She looked at Sam and shrugged. "I guess calculating how fast he reacts to the flowers is out of the question?"

Sam nodded. "He was pretty much out of it by the time I got here. He might be able to tell us more with the Bikona out of this system."

"No!" Danny protested, clinging to the flower. One petal tickled his nose. Danny sneezed, then a wicked idea came to him. With his eyes gleaming in mischief, Danny bit the petal off of the ghost nip flower chewed and swallowed.

"Danny!" Sam cried out.

"What?" Tucker asked.

"Danny's eating the flowers!" Sam explained.


	5. Chapter 5

The Siege chapter 5

by Kellie Fay

Special Thanks to Kidwrangler for editing

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to...well you know.

Chapter 5: More Ghost Nip

A week later, Danny found himself opening the gate to Sarah's front yard, apprehensive and nervous. Yesterday they had begun her tests on Danny's ability to resist the Bikona plants.

Sarah had left three of the lily-like white flowers hidden outside in her backyard. Without even being told to, Danny had found the flowers within the hour. Fortunately, outdoors in the fresh air Danny didn't have many problems resisting the Bikona. All it took was a reminder from Sam, Tucker, or Jazz, and Danny could shake himself from his daze, and move away from the flowers. If, however, they didn't say anything, Danny would easily forget himself and allow the Bikona to intoxicate him.

It was a small comfort they didn't let him get so far gone that he didn't remember what happened. Danny replayed yesterday slowly in his mind, remembering how he'd felt disconnected from his common sense. He would say anything that came into his head, and he'd found it impossible to lie. He couldn't even _think_ about lying. At the same time, he didn't really care. Even though the afternoon had been cool, Danny had felt warm—unusual given his now lower body temperature. The Bikona had the smell of a candy shop, and it made Danny feel comforted and happy while under the influence of the pollen. Once away from the flowers, the happy feeling changed to one of mild revulsion and he wanted to stay away from them. He didn't like that feeling of being out of control, no matter how wonderful the rest felt.

Today they planned on learning how Danny reacted to the Bikona indoors. Considering he was only able to resist the Bikona when reminded to outside, Danny had a feeling that even a reminder wasn't going to keep him away from the plant this time.

When Danny entered the house he found Sam, Tucker, and Jazz already stretched out on the floor of Sarah's living room. The fireplace burned brightly and warmly. Jazz and the others looked up when Danny walked in.

"Hey Danny," Jazz said, going back to her homework.

Tucker noticed Danny's unhappy demeanor. "Man, what happened to you?"

"Nothing yet," Danny said with a sigh. "It's what's going to happen that worries me.

"Danny, we talked about this," Miss Daily said, coming in from the kitchen, carrying a platter of sandwiches. "Its better we see how resistant you are to Bikona now…under controlled conditions."

"I know," Danny complained. "I just have a problem with a plant that can make me act crazy and forget what I did."

"I thought you didn't forget anything yesterday, Danny?" Sam asked.

"I didn't, but it still felt weird. I...I didn't have any control over what I was doing or saying." He fidgeted with the strap to his backpack, and then dropped the whole thing to the floor, allowing his messy hair to flop down over his eyes.

"Consider yourself lucky, Danny," Tucker said with a grin. "On ghost nip you get silly, but lazy. At least you don't get hyper."

_Ghost nip_. Tucker's new name for the plant. Danny didn't like it but he couldn't argue with it. He'd seen enough cats loopy on catnip to get the analogy.

Sam laughed at the thought. "Can you imagine Danny hyper and high on ghost nip, flying around town?"

Danny brushed his hair back and made a face. He could imagine that very clearly, and it was what he was afraid of. "That's exactly what I don't want to happen," he reminded them, a bit defensively.

"Don't worry, Danny," Miss Daily said gently. "I won't let that happen, and besides, everything we've learned about how you react to ghost nip tells us you get lazy, not hyper. The flowers are already hidden in the house. If you really don't want to do this you can just go outside."

"And if I do, we don't get any of our questions answered do we?" Danny kicked his backpack closer to the group and sighed. "I'll do it. I just hate feeling like a guinea pig."

"Don't worry, Danny," Sam said with a grin. "By the time you find the Bikona you won't care that we're using you for a guinea pig."

Despite his apprehension, Danny managed a matching grin. "That's for sure. Just make sure I don't enjoy it _too_ much." He turned to Miss Daily. "Same as yesterday? Just hang out and let you know when I find the flowers?"

Miss Daily nodded, offering the group peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She left the platter on a low table, knowing the hungry teenagers would make sure there weren't any leftovers.

A half hour later, Danny was restless and having trouble concentrating on his English homework. He put his book down and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms.

Sam caught the movement and glanced over. "You okay Danny?"

"Yeah," Danny said. When Sam gave him the Goth look of Tell-Me-Another-One, Danny gave up trying to keep her from worrying. "No…I don't know…I can't seem to focus."

"You think it's the ghost nip?" Jazz asked, looking up from some impossibly thick textbook.

"Maybe." Danny tried to gauge how he felt now, compared to yesterday. It was hard to think. He glanced over to the kitchen. "I'm gonna go get myself a soda." Danny stood up, dragged his feet into the kitchen, and opened the refrigerator door. He stared blankly at the sodas a few seconds, trying to remember what he was doing there, before shaking the daze out of his head.

"What is the matter with me?" Danny asked out loud, closing the refrigerator door. Was Jazz's guess right? Were the Bikona flowers nearby--messing with his concentration? Danny took an experimental sniff of the kitchen air. There _was_ a slight scent of the ghost nip in the air, and Danny found his eyes drooping closed in response to the sweet odor. Catching himself, he shook his head again.

_I really should just find the flowers and get it over with_, Danny thought to himself. His previous experiences with Bikona told him he was more successful if he just stopped thinking and let his body lead him to the plants.

With his eyes still closed, Danny took a deep breath and started moving carefully around the kitchen, following the light scent trail, until he found himself in front of the door to the mud room.

"In here?" he wondered. He opened the door and a strong scent of Bikona filled the air. Danny smiled as the warm feeling caused by the pollen filled his mind. "Definitely in here," Danny said.

On the washing machine sat a crystal vase filled with a cheerful assortment of flowers. On closer inspection Danny found two of the lily-like, white blooms. Without meaning to, he took in a deep breath. The Bikona smelled like cotton candy and bubble gum. Like his Mom's cookies, his favorite day at the beach, and popsicles, all rolled into one. The scent seemed to flow through his mind calming and relaxing him. When his vision cleared slightly he found himself back in the kitchen, seated at the table with his head propped up in his left hand and twirling one of the Bikona flowers in his right. The vase was now on the table, as well.

_I really should tell them I found the ghost nip,_ Danny thought to himself. However, he really didn't feel like getting up and moving. He looked at the white flower in his hand and brought it close to his nose. He inhaled deeply. The scent of the blossom filled his mind with thoughts of a candy shop…a bakery…homemade frosting. Danny closed his eyes, lost in the fog of sweetness. There was something he was supposed to do, but he couldn't remember what it was. He took another deep breath of the ghost nip and decided whatever it was, didn't matter. Danny leaned back in his chair, balancing on the two back legs, enjoying the flower in his hand.

"Danny?"

Sam's voice cut through the dreamy haze in Danny's mind. He opened his eyes and saw Sam standing over him. "Hi, beautiful!" he said brightly.

Sam didn't seem impressed. "I see you found the ghost nip," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Uh huh," Danny said absently, turning his attention back to the flower in his hand.

"You were supposed to tell us when you found it," she scolded.

Danny looked up at Sam mildly puzzled. "Is that what I forgot?" he giggled. "Silly me."

Sam sighed. "You're pretty much useless now, aren't you?"

"Hmmm hmmm," Danny chuckled to himself, taking another whiff of Bikona.

"Okay. I think you've had quite enough of that," Sam said. She reached for the Bikona, intending to take it away from him, but he turned intangible. The now unbalanced chair clattered to the ground empty, and Danny, laughing hysterically, managed to become solid again before he went through the floor.

The noise brought Jazz, Tucker, and Miss Daily into the room. "Is everyone all right?" Jazz asked.

Danny lay on the floor, giggling. Sam snorted and folded her arms across her chest. "I'm fine," she said, "And I think Danny is fine, too, if he can stop laughing long enough to tell us so." She stared down at her friend. "At this point, I'd guess _more_ than fine."

Danny looked up at Jazz, Miss Daily and Tucker. "Hi!" he said brightly, waving the flower about. "I found the ghost nip!"

"So I see," Miss Daily said dryly. She looked at Sam and shrugged. "I guess calculating how fast he reacts to the flowers is out of the question?"

Sam nodded. "He was pretty much out of it by the time I got here. He might be able to tell us more when the Bikona is out of his system."

"No!" Danny protested, clinging to the flower. One petal tickled his nose. He sneezed, and a wicked idea came to him. With his eyes gleaming in mischief, Danny bit off a petal of the ghost nip flower, chewed and swallowed.

"Danny!" Sam cried out.

"What?" Tucker asked. He'd been temporarily distracted by a plate of cookies on the counter.

"Danny's eating the flower!" Sam explained, pointing at the now lopsided bloom, still clutched in Danny's hand.

Danny, in the meantime, was enjoying the rush that the taste of the Bikona provided. His eyes closed in pure pleasure. The rest of the world had faded away and his mind was completely filled with a thick, warm, sweet sensation. It didn't last very long, though. Soon he could hear Sam's and Tucker's voices in the room again, and the room seemed noticeably cooler. Wanting the warm feeling back again, Danny bit off another petal, chewing slower this time to release more of the flower's flavors.

"Danny! Stop that!" Sam said sharply. "Miss Daily, make him stop!"

Sarah nodded. "I think you've had quite enough of that, Danny." She traced a pattern in the air over his body. "_Concresco lapis durus_," she intoned, then crouched down and placed her hand on Danny's chest. With her other hand she reached out and plucked the rest of the flower out of Danny's hand, handing it off to Jazz.

Danny looked at Sarah, mildly puzzled. "Hey, I can't phase," he said, sounding way too calm for his powers to not be working. "No fair! How did you do that?"

Sarah laughed. "That was a spell I laid on you. It keeps you from altering your molecular structure. Poof! No phasing, no invisibility, no ghost."

_Poof?_ mouthed Tucker. Sam poked him in the ribs with her elbow.

"No ghost?" Danny arched an eyebrow at her quizzically, sounding only slightly worried.

"The spell only lasts a few minutes," Sarah reassured him. "You'll be able to go ghost before you remember you can, but I think that eating half a Bikona flower is quite enough."

"Oh, all right." Danny sighed dramatically and a huge yawn escaped from his mouth at his next breath. Looking a bit surprised at himself, he gazed up at the group standing loosely around him and blinked sleepily.

"Come on. Let's go back to the living room," Sam said. The others nodded in agreement.

"Don't wanna," Danny told them, sounding like a stubborn toddler. "Comfortable right here."

"Right now you are," Jazz said patiently. "Later, you'll be cold and stiff and you'll complain that we didn't move you."

Miss Daily laughed. Jazz sounded exactly like the long put upon big sister she no doubt felt she was. "I have an idea on how to move him. Tucker…go get my cloak from the coat rack"

Tucker complied. He brought back Miss Daily's blue green cloak. It was a special cloak. It was magical…a fact Tucker still had trouble wrapping his brain around. When wearing it, Miss Daily would be able to fly, and energy weapons would bounce right off of it. Tucker was pretty sure that it could do more things--things Miss Daily wasn't telling them about yet, but the number of laws of physics it broke made Tucker's head hurt, and he wasn't sure he could handle what else it could do. Right now, its ability to double as a flying carpet—or would that be a flying cloak?—was what was needed.

Coming Soon Chapter 7 Danny's nap

"This could make a wonderful medicine for Danny," Miss Daily said tucking Danny into the bed.

"I can think of a couple of other ideas for it," Jazz added. "It would be great to keep Danny in one place for a while. Shred up the petals and sneak it into his food, he'll never know what hit him."

"Jazz I like the way you think," Miss Daily said with a chuckle.


	6. Chapter 6

The Siege: Chapter 6

By Kellie Fay

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.

Special Thanks to Kidwrangler for editing

Reviews make the insecure author very happy

Chapter 6: Danny's Nap

By the time Tucker got back with the cloak, Danny was curled up on the floor like a toddler, sound asleep. Jazz reached out and attempted to shake her brother awake, but the only response she got was a grimace and an inarticulate growl.

"Man, he's out cold," Tucker said, as Jazz helped him roll Danny onto the cloak.

"He's never fallen asleep like that before," Sam said worriedly, watching Jazz try to make Danny more comfortable. "Do you think it's because he ate the flower petals?"

Sarah reached out and touched Danny lightly on the forehead. Tiny ectoplasmic green lights appeared where her fingers touched, like green static electricity, but none of the teens were worried. They'd seen Sarah do this before.

"He's okay," she reassured the small group. "He's just moderately sedated. I'd love to test him on just the petals, and not the pollen. I don't think the petals would make him silly. I think he'd just get very lazy and sleepy." Jazz gave her brother a pat, pretending she hadn't been worried.

Now that he was on the cloak, Miss Daily was able to levitate Danny and get him to her spare room. Sam went ahead and turned down the covers, and while Jazz and Sarah got Danny on the bed, Tucker took the cloak back out to hang it up. With the air of long practice, Jazz tucked a pillow under her brother's head, took off his shoes, and unsnapped his jeans.

Sam reached to help, but was held back by Miss Daily's soft touch on her hand. A barely perceptible nod toward the bed redirected Sam's gaze to Jazz's face. His older sister's hands patted Danny's pockets for anything that might bother him if he rolled over, and she smoothed his hair back before pulling up the comforter to his chest. While her hands seemed to take care of Danny automatically, her face softened from concern to affection as she assured herself her baby brother was all right. Despite her ministrations, Danny slept so deeply he didn't even stir, and Sarah wondered if he knew how much his sister worried about him. "She's done this too many times before." Miss Daily's voice barely breathed in Sam's ear. "She needs to make sure he's all right. Let her."

Jazz straightened up and gave the comforter one more tug. Certain he was as comfortable as she could make him and satisfied with his condition, she took a couple of steps towards the door to join Sam and Miss Daily.

"This could make a wonderful medicine for Danny," Miss Daily said thoughtfully, as the subject of their conversation slept on.

"I can think of a couple of other ideas for it," Jazz added, sounding a little exasperated. "It would be great to keep Danny in one place for a while. Shred up the petals and sneak it into his food, he'd never know what hit him."

"Jazz, I like the way you think," Miss Daily chuckled.

Sam looked at Jazz and Miss Daily with a frown. "Why would either of you want to do that to Danny?" she asked. The warning tone in her voice clearly said _that's a rotten thing to do and I'll stop you if you try_.

"I've wanted to do that to Danny a couple of times," Jazz admitted. "Almost every time he goes out after a ghost while he's still hurt." But her face said _I don't understand why he needs to fight, but I won't stop him._

Sam thought about it. She would have loved a way to stop him from going after the Ghost King, but she knew she couldn't. She wouldn't be able to face Danny, afterward. The thought of losing his trust was a knot in her heart.

"I don't have a reason to want to drug Danny, Sam," Sarah explained, giving a little tug on the Goth's stubby pony tail to let Sam know they hadn't really been serious. "But it always pays to be prepared. Since Bikona is a calmitive at lower levels, as well as a sedative at higher, I might be able to use it to prevent nightmares and such."

Sam nodded thoughtfully, accepting the silent apology for unintentionally riling her. "And in that stuff you gave me to read last week it said that some ancient cultures used to make a tea out of the leaves and petals that gets rid of congestion, but that too much of it might lower your body temperature."

"So it's a fever reducer, too," Sarah said. "If Danny ever got a bad cold or the flu, the Bikona might help him. I might be able to make a variety of symptom specific teas or tonics that we know wouldn't interfere with his ghost half, by mixing the Bikona with herbs we already know are effective and safe."

"I think it's a good idea," Jazz agreed.

"So, all we have to do now is see how Danny wakes up after eating Bikona flowers," Sarah told them. Opening her arms wide, she gently shooed the girls, like ducklings, back to the living room. Once there, the three teens agreed to take turns keeping an eye on Danny, in case he needed them.

It had been a little more than two hours since Danny had been put to bed, and Sam had relieved Tucker. "He hasn't moved a muscle," Tucker said. "When the man sleeps, he sleeps _hard_." Smiling, he picked up his beloved PDA and his math homework, and headed out of the bedroom. If he was lucky, Miss Daily might have a few more cookies she could donate towards a hungry friend watcher.

Sam pulled a padded chair up close to the bed, and settled down with one of Miss Daily's books. She watched Danny sleep for a few moments, and thought how cute he looked with his hair in even more disarray, and one hand fisted up under his chin. With a pang, she noticed, too, how much younger he looked without the frown lines and frightened eyes he habitually had when awake. _He looks his age_, she thought, and smiled a little when she realized she liked that.

It wasn't much later when Sam heard Danny stirring in the bed. She put down the book, and saw him toss his head back and forth before settling down again. He murmured a little, but nothing she could understand. Sam remembered it took time for Danny to fully recover from the Bikona, so she retrieved her book, but scooted the chair a little closer to him. After another ten minutes, something alerted her to a change. He was very still, but familiar expressions chased themselves across his face. There was the _am I alive, so to speak?_ frown, the pulled down eyebrows of _where am I and how did I get here?_, and the slightly panicked look of _I don't remember what happened!_. She had decided to say something reassuring before he got to the _oh, this is big trouble_ forehead wrinkles, but then she heard a nervous, tentative, "Sam?"

With a smile Sam reached over and ran her fingers through Danny's hair. "I'm here," she said quietly.

Danny slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Sam, puzzled. He was in bed, but not his bed. And not Sam's, because the walls were bright, with yellow striped wall paper. He glanced down. And not Jazz's room, unless Jazz had bought a daisy covered comforter he didn't know about. Sam could see the moment when the rest of Danny's memory kicked in. "I guess I found the ghost nip, huh, Sam?" he said in a resigned tone of voice.

"Yep," she said. "And you 'forgot' to tell us when you found it. By the time we found you, you were pretty much out of it."

Danny sighed. "Tell me we're done. Tell me she isn't gonna want to do this again."

"Probably not," Sam reassured him with a grin. "I think Miss Daily is going to give up testing the ghost nip on you. You're way too sensitive to it."

Danny nodded slowly. "Tell me about it. I was reacting to the ghost nip all the way into the living room. The flowers were in the mud room, so going into the kitchen just exposed me more pollen. I kinda remember finding them, but that's about it."

"It went pretty much like the first time," Sam told him. "Well, except that you got it into your head to start eating the flower petals."

Danny blinked, then stared at Sam, bemused. "Wait. I started eating the flowers?"

Sam nodded. "You must have really gotten a charge out of it, cuz you looked like you were really enjoying it, but after about twenty minutes you fell fast asleep."

Danny sighed heavily and turned his gaze to the ceiling "I don't remember that. I don't remember talking to any of you. I'm really starting to hate that stuff."

"Tell Miss Daily if it bothers you that much," Sam encouraged. "For now, just relax. It's over."

Danny decided not to argue. His head felt clearer than the other times he'd gotten himself exposed to ghost nip, but his body still felt heavy and unresponsive, and his stomach would be happier if the room wasn't swirling around at the edges. He closed his eyes and decided just to wait for his body to recover.

"Danny?" Sam asked worriedly, reaching out to touch his hand.

"I'm okay," Danny said, keeping his eyes closed. "I've still got that heavy feeling. I'll be fine."

He didn't mean to, but Danny slipped into a doze. He was warm, he was still tired, although he hadn't wanted to worry Sam by telling her that, and while this time his body was only weighed down with bricks, it was easier to sink into the mattress in this cheerful room and rest, than force his arms and legs to work. He could smell the shampoo Sam used, and the rustle of her turning pages in her book. A sunbeam warmed one hand. Yeah, it lacked the overwhelming sweet odor of the Bikona, not to mention the floppy, goofy feeling, but his present situation gave him a safe, comfortable feeling he'd choose over Bikona, anytime.

The crinkle of book pages had melted into a dream about talking plants when footsteps alerted him to more people in the room. "How is he?" Danny heard Miss Daily ask, as the dream faded.

"Shhh. He was awake a few minutes ago," Sam said, softly. "He sounded more like himself. I think he's gone to back to sleep, though."

"He's awake now," Danny corrected her, rousing himself from the lull of comfort and safety. "And I feel more or less like myself. I just don't want to try flying right now." He opened his eyes and looked up at Sarah. "No more ghost nip after this. I really can't stand waking up with memory blanks."

Sarah nodded and sat down on the bed next to Danny. "All right," she said. "Maybe you can catch me The Box Ghost or something, and I can do some tests on him."

Danny smiled mischievously at the thought. It kind of appealed to his sense of justice. The Box Ghost had helped start his first, unintentional exposure to Bikona, and could finish it up, too. "That, I probably can do." He tried stretching, and was pleased when his arms moved a little. "As long as I'm not the guinea pig, anymore."

"No more guinea pig," Sarah confirmed. "How about tea and cookies, instead. I have the tea steeping, and Tucker, you can bring in what's left of the plate of cookies." She turned around to pin the young African-American to the door jamb he'd been leaning up against. "There _are_ some left…right?"

There was an audible gulp before Tucker stammered, "Well…yeah!...of course!...some…like, you know, less than many, but more than none at all…um…do you mean, like whole ones?...do pieces count?"

Danny grinned.

Coming Soon Chapter 7: An Interview

The sound of the ghost slamming against the shield made Lancer wince. Confidant in her defenses Sarah said, "It's all right, he can't get in. The only ghost who can pass through my wards is Phantom."

Lancer looked at Sarah the question, "_why him_?" clearly in his eyes, but he didn't not ask. Instead he said, "Someone should put a stop to this."

"Phantom will be fine," Sarah said evenly. "He'll take care of the hostile." At that same time, the young sorceress called out mentally to her charge. _Danny, are you okay? Do you need a hand?_

_Nah…_ Danny's mind voice was strained and distracted, but not distressed. _It's just Skulker. I can handle -_ Suddenly Danny broke off sending, his attention completely on the fight. Sarah waited nervously. If Danny's emotions went from focused to frightened, she would choose to intervene and not wait for Danny to make up his mind. After a few seconds of waiting she heard Danny answer. _On second thought, maybe you'd better get out here just in case I need a backup. Valerie just showed up._


	7. Chapter 7

The Siege Chapter 7

By Kellie Fay

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.

As always, reviews make an insecure author happy!

Special Thanks to Kidwrangler for editing

Chapter 7 An Interview

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Danny managed to catch the Box Ghost, as well as a few less powerful ghosts, for Sarah to practice on. Of course, he wasn't allowed to stay for the tests. If he had, he would have been an unwilling test subject and he wasn't the least bit interested in going through that again.

Interestingly enough, the other ghosts only seemed interested in the smell of the flowers, not the taste of the petals. This was a source of much discussion between Sarah and Jazz, and having no other hybrids to test, the nearest they could figure was that Danny's human physiology was making him react to the petals just as strongly as the pollen. Danny was just relieved when Sarah stopped working directly with the Bikona, and placed the plant and it's cuttings far back in the greenhouse and forever banned Danny from entering the building again.

"Doesn't break my heart," Danny said smugly a few days later, gathering his books from his locker. "Especially as I'm now officially banned from all gardening assignments."

"Yeah, but Sam's got to do all the gardening work from now on," Tucker snickered. "Which means you'll still get exposed to ghost nip."

"No, he won't," Sam said, thwapping Tucker lightly on the back of his head and earning a _what did I say?!_ look in return. "Miss Daily is also installing a new shower and sink in the back of the greenhouse where she's keeping the Bikona, and any of us working with it will have jumpsuits with hoods to put over our clothes. As long as we remember to cover our clothes and hair, and wash up, we won't have any accidents."

"Good," Danny said firmly. "The last thing I want is to have another Bikona accident." He blinked away a sudden picture of Sam in a tight, teal jumpsuit, being followed around by Tucker in a bright orange one. He did _not_ want to go there.

The three moved through the halls nearing Miss Daily's room, dodging exchange traffic with practiced ease. "So we'll see you after Math Lab?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Danny said. Suddenly he shivered and a blue mist came out of his mouth. "Or, maybe not. Duty calls guys."

Sam and Tucker nodded and grabbed his books. Casually blocking Danny's body from view they moved off, allowing their half-ghost friend to slip away down a seldom used staircase. Danny transformed into his ghostly alter ego and thought, _Thank goodness it's Math Lab I'm going to be missing._ _Sarah knows why I miss class so much and will even cover for me if Lancer asks where I am._ With that, he put school completely out of his mind and went to look for the ghost causing the trouble.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Bye Miss Daily! See you tomorrow!" Dash said, waving as he gathered his books.

Sarah Daily waved back. "Bye Dash, and don't forget to do your homework!"

Once the football player was gone from the room, Sarah leaned back against the wall and took in a deep breath.

Danny had missed class again.

Sarah knew why Danny had missed class. It was obviously a ghost of some kind. _Ten to one it's Skulker again. He seems to get a perverse pleasure out of having Danny miss my classes in particular._ Of course, she would cover for him. That was her real job--to be Danny's guardian, sometimes counselor, sometimes friend, sometimes secret keeper, sometimes trainer. Someone who knew more about having superpowers than he did, and could get him through the physical, emotional, and psychological stresses of being slightly more than human.

_Or, because he thinks of himself as half ghost, does that mean he thinks of himself as less than human?_ The thought brought a frown to her face. She had no doubt the put down would be something Danny himself would think of. She shook her head. _No, I can't let him think that way. All the other children we know of think of themselves as being humans with perks, even the very few who have gone the super hero path. Maybe Danny is a rarity among the very rare, but he isn't any less human for it. _

Sarah began to pick up text books and put them away, when her wards alerted her to a presence. Turning her attention to the warning she found Ron Lancer approaching her room. He seemed concerned about something, but the vice principal knew about her abilities, and could, with single minded effort, conceal his thoughts from her.

Without turning around, Sarah waited for her supervisor to come into the room. "Can I do something for you Mr. Lancer?" she asked the moment he crossed the threshold.

If he reacted to her question, Sarah didn't see it. "It amazes me, Miss Daily," he said in his slow, dry classroom voice, "how you always seem to know exactly who is entering your classroom."

Sarah sighed and continued shelving books. "I know you don't approve, but I feel more secure knowing there are protections around my room to warn me of arcane and mundane threats."

Ron Lancer gave Sarah an odd look. "I'm mildly curious as to what you consider a mundane threat, but I feel as if I should be more concerned about the arcane ones."

Sarah put the last book away. "This is the most haunted town in the Continental United States, and the most haunted school anywhere. Call me paranoid, but I'd like my classroom to be free of spectral and magical influences, so there isn't a repeat of last month."

Lancer frowned. Sarah knew she didn't have to remind the vice principal of when Freakshow, and the band of ghosts he controlled, took over the school to steal the last of a set of magic rubies—rubies that almost gave the gothic clown control over Danny Phantom. Fortunately, due to a secret plan on Phantom's and her part, and the betrayal of the one ghost Freakshow couldn't control, the plot failed. Still, it left Lancer with more questions than Sarah wanted to answer.

"You know, Miss Daily, there are still many things about that incident I don't understand." Lancer's casual comment didn't fool Sarah.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Lancer, but I really can't tell you anymore than I already have. Just know that the man broke out of prison, and he belongs behind bars."

"I have no doubt of that," Lancer answered firmly. "I took the liberty of looking him up in the newspaper archives. He was sent to prison for possession of stolen goods, which incidentally, were proven to be stolen by Danny Phantom."

Sarah winced. The topic of the conversation was now firmly where she didn't want it to be, but she couldn't see how to get out of it. "You saw what he did to Phantom," she reminded him evenly, busying her hands with sorting worksheets into neat piles. "With the proper focus objects, he can, and did, control ghosts. When Phantom and the other ghosts were committing those robberies, they were being controlled—almost like being drugged and robbed of the ability to know what they were doing or stop themselves. I actually spoke with Phantom about that. Even without the jewels or the staff, Phantom fears Freakshow. He's terrified of falling under someone's control only to come out of it to find he's hurt someone."

Lancer didn't look very convinced. "Are you saying this ghost felt _remorse_ for his actions?" The skeptical look on his face annoyed Sarah.

She slapped down the papers she was holding and snapped, "Yes! Danny Phantom can feel remorse. He can feel fear and relief, sorrow and happiness, worry, affection…the same emotions a living person can feel. The rest of the ghosts you see around Amity Park are actually trouble makers. Normal, non-trouble-making ghosts, don't bother coming into our world at all."

_There's such thing as a normal ghost? _"But Phantom does?" Mr. Lancer asked, clearly intrigued, but wanting to stick to one subject at a time.

Sarah nodded. "Most ghosts do have an obsessive nature. Many times it seems to take the form of an object—food, electronics, even boxes. Phantom actually has a protective obsession. He feels he needs to protect people from evil ghosts." Sarah now gave her supervisor a sly smile. "He's even protected you on occasion." Lancer's eyebrows climbed most of the way to what little was left of his hair, his disbelief clear. Before he could argue the point, she continued. "Remember last October when Ember McLaine visited the school? She used her own special talents to turn the students against you. They were about to trample you when you felt an icy chill run through your entire body, and as far as you know, the mob passed you by." Sarah paused dramatically. "That icy chill was Phantom turning you intangible with him. The crowd didn't pass by you…they passed _through_ you."

For a few seconds, Lancer stood there and stared at her, his face almost comically blank. Then, his eyes grew distant as he replayed the incident in his mind. "I thought I had imagined the students running through me," he said thoughtfully, locking his hands behind his back. "And you're saying it was Phantom that saved me?"

"You tell me," Sarah said mysteriously. "He's really not such a bad kid, once you get to know him." Lancer gave her an amused glance, but she knew he understood what she meant by that. Sarah considered Danny Phantom a kid first and a ghost second.

"It appears you have gotten to know Phantom quite well," Lancer said, rocking back on his heels with his own mysterious look.

Sarah gave the Assistant Principal one of her more charming smiles. "Part of my 'hobby,' is researching the paranormal, and you can get quite a bit of research done when your target isn't running from you."

"Really." Sarah could sense Lancer's interest had been piqued, and could see the reflection of dozens of questions about Danny Phantom on his face, and desperately tried to think of a way to change the subject. Lancer wasn't as much of a fool as the students thought he was. Given enough information, he could easily deduce that the ghost boy, Danny Phantom, was in fact their student, Danny Fenton.

Lancer, oblivious to Sarah's distress, continued with his questions. "So, perhaps you could explain why…"

He was interrupted by a crash from Sarah's side office. She and Lancer raced into the room to see the subject of their conversation lying amidst bits of broken glass and papers.

"My fault. Sorry about that," the ghost boy said cheerfully. A second later a dull thud sounded to their right. Sarah and Lancer turned to see a ghost in a robotic suit banging both fists where the window used to be. For some reason, the broken window could still keep the ghost out of the room.

Phantom startled at first, but then wide green eyes slowly relaxed as he realized the other ghost couldn't get in. The younger ghost smiled mischievously at Sarah and said, "I absolutely love your wards." A blink later he seemed to disappear, as he turned intangible and dove down into the floor at their feet. Sarah knew Lancer couldn't see what had just happened, but she was able to use her own magic to follow Danny, and wasn't surprised when he came back up a second later behind the larger ghost. Reverting to his natural state, he used his advantage to pound a right cross into the back of Skulker's helmet, driving the older ghost into the magical barrier of the classroom and office.

The thud of the ghost slamming against the shield made Lancer wince, and take a step back.

Confident in her defenses, Sarah said, "It's all right. He can't get in. The only ghost who can pass through my wards is Phantom."

Lancer looked at Sarah sharply, the question, "_why him_?" clearly in his eyes, but he didn't ask. "Someone should put a stop to this," he declared officiously, falling back on his familiar role as a figure of authority.

"Phantom will be fine," Sarah said evenly. "He'll take care of the hostile." At the same time, the young sorceress called out mentally to her charge. _Danny, are you okay? Do you need a hand?_

_Nah. _ Danny's mind voice was strained and distracted, but not distressed. _It's just Skulker. I can handle--_ Suddenly he broke off, his attention focusing completely on the fight. Sarah waited nervously. If Danny's emotions went from focused to frightened, she would choose to intervene and not wait for Danny to make up his mind. After a few seconds of waiting she heard Danny answer. _On second thought, maybe you'd better get out here just in case I need a backup. Valerie just showed up._

Sarah gave Danny a mental nod, to let him know she agreed. Without missing a beat she said to Lancer, "Maybe we should go outside and make sure none of our students are in the way."

Lancer's expression told Sarah that she wasn't fooling him one bit. Still after a moment of thought Lancer straightened up and sucked in as much of his potbelly as he could. "Perhaps that would be a good idea."

Together, they left Sarah's little office and went back out to the main classroom. He moved to the hallway door, opened it, and made a slight half bow, inviting Sarah to go through first. Sarah nodded in acknowledgment, and walked through the door and out of her protections without hesitation.

Smiling a little grimly, she followed the vice principal's striding figure, every line of his out of shape body saying _I am in charge and you will do as I say._ If she had been alone she would have jumped right through her office window to be with Danny, but with Lancer about she still had to keep to the persona of a respectable teacher. Once outside she knew she could set up one or two small subtle spells to help Danny.

Coming Soon Chapter 8: Exposed!

"Everyone run!" Danny called out, but he knew it wasn't going to help. Someone was going to get hurt, or worse.

Just then, Danny heard a familiar authoritarian voice call out, "Lords of the Earth and Air aid me!" Danny could feel the living energy in the air flow towards his math teacher. Was she really going to use magic in front of everyone?

Danny looked down to see Sarah Daily thrust her hands into the air. Blue-gold lights spread from her feet, to her hands, then surround her and the class, shielding them from the bombs and ecto blasts.

"Uh oh," Danny said above her. Sarah's magic was completely visible to the entire staff and student body of Casper High. Off in the distance Danny could see Principal Ishiyama and a crowd of parents, including his own, watching the display of magic.

"What the…?"

"How did she do that!"

Surprisingly, Danny's father was a little more articulate. "It's her! The magic ghost hunter!"

A sound from behind Danny made him turn back to see Valerie sputtering uncontrollably, her eyes filled with rage. Finally she shouted, "It was you the whole time! _You're_ the one who's been hanging out with the ghost kid and helping him get away from me!"

Valerie leveled her weapon at Miss Daily, who faced down the girl with her customary calmness. "Valerie you really don't want to hurt me. Why don't we go inside and talk about this."

Valerie wasn't having any of it. "All the dizzy spells! All the malfunctions! It was you all along! _You're protecting him!_"


	8. Chapter 8

The Siege Chapter 8

By Kellie Fay

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.

As always, reviews make an insecure author happy!

Special Thanks to Kidwrangler for editing

Chapter 8: Exposed

When they came to the main entrance, Lancer held the door for her again. Outside, the melee looked far more dangerous than it did inside. Phantom battled the large robotic ghost, Skulker, and the Red Hunter at the same time.

Teachers and students mulled around the field uneasily; staring fascinated at the violence above them. Sam, Tucker and a few other students in her first period math class began to crowd around Daily and Lancer, but Sarah gave Danny her full attention. _Danny, what do you want me to do?_ she asked, gently placing her thoughts into the boy's mind.

_Right now, just keep Valerie off my back,_ Danny thought back to her. _I can handle her and Skulker by themselves, but together I've got problems._

_Will do, Danny,_ Sarah thought with a grin. Quietly she stared at Valerie and chanted to herself.

_**As like charges when pushed do flee,**_

_**So ghost hunter and ghost child be.**_

For a brief moment a silvery white glow enveloped both teens, then, faded. Valerie took a shot at Danny, which he dodged. She tried to move closer to shoot again, but to her surprise her hover board moved in the opposite direction.

"Hey!" Valerie shouted, confused, as she tried to regain control.

Danny noticed, and couldn't help but smile as he watched Valerie struggle with her board. Even Skulker noticed that some force was pushing Valerie away from her target.

"A repulsion spell," Skulker said with grudging admiration for the battle tactic. "So why didn't you have your guardian place the same spell on me?"

"Because then I couldn't do this!" With a wicked grin, Danny ducked under the larger ghost, shifted the strap on his back until the Fenton Thermos fell into his hands, then opened the cap and activated the device, sucking the hunter ghost inside.

Above Danny, Valerie still fought with her hover board trying to get closer to Danny. She let off a barrage of ecto laser blasts, but every time she tried to get closer the spell only pushed her further away.

Danny hovered in midair and couldn't keep a small chuckle from escaping. _That's a cute trick, _he sent silently to Sarah._ Too bad you can't keep it on her all the time._

Sarah's mental chuckle answered him right back. _If I did, she wouldn't be able to get near Danny Fenton, either. Should I take it off her now so you can fight her or do you just want it to wear off?_

_Do you even need to ask?_ Danny sent back with the mental equivalent of a huge grin. _Let it wear off! I really don't like fighting Valerie. Maybe if she sees I'm not being aggressive she'll finally get a clue._

Sarah managed not to laugh at Danny's enthusiasm, but the look of mirth on her face caught her supervisor's attention.

"You find this amusing Miss Daily?" Lancer's voice was so dry she was surprised it didn't dehydrate the nearby bushes.

Instead of answering directly, she directed his attention to the battle above them. Technically it was a non-battle because Valerie still couldn't get near Danny, and he wasn't trying to hurt her at all. In fact, he was sort of floating there, his legs crossed in midair, his head tipped to one side, his mouth moving. "Watch them," she said softly. "What is Phantom doing, or more specifically, not doing?"

Lancer watched with a slight frown. "Obviously he's not trying to fight the Huntress. She's having trouble with her equipment. He appears to be letting a significant opportunity for retribution pass by." He shoved his hands in his pockets and watched for another moment. "It almost seems as if he wishes to speak with her."

"Yes. He's tried talking to her before," Sarah said with a sigh. "She's too angry with him, and ghosts in general, to listen, though. Do you notice he is not using any ghost energy against her? The only one firing weapons is the Huntress." More to herself she added, "With the other ghost gone, he should just go and leave her be." They were too far up for people on the ground to make out what was being said, but in her mind she could hear Danny's thoughts as he tried, yet again, to reason with Valerie.

"How can I make you understand that I don't want to hurt you?" His thoughts echoed the peevish tone he was using.

"Like I'm going to believe you, ghost," Valerie shot back crossly. Again she tried to close in on him, and again the spell pushed her away. "Arg! Why can't I get close to you?"

Suddenly, Danny realized that he could keep Valerie constantly fighting with her balance if he used the repulsion spell correctly. With a mischievous gleam in his eye he pushed forward in the air. Sure enough, the spell pushed both him and Valerie away from each other. Danny, however, knew it would happen, and easily maintained control of his position. Valerie, however, struggled to regain control of her hover board. Danny couldn't help but laugh. That made Valerie madder.

"Why…you!" Valerie shouted. "I am so gonna get you, ghost!"

Danny backed away slightly. "Give it up Valerie. That spell separating us is gonna last for a good couple of hours. There is no way you're gonna get near me."

Through her visor Danny could see Valerie's face narrow in determination. Without warning, Valerie swooped over Danny's head and dropped a cluster of ghost bombs on top of him. Even though the spell immediately bounced her back up in the air, she let out a whoop of satisfaction.

Instantly, Danny turned intangible to avoid the ghost bombs. A second later he was dodging blasts from Valerie's ecto-cannon.

"No!" Below him, Mr. Lancer, Miss Daily, and a group of kids from his class stood staring at the spectacle above them. The bombs were headed right for them, and with Valerie shooting above him he couldn't break away to shield the people on the ground.

"Everyone run!" Danny yelled, waving his arms frantically. "Get away!" But he knew it wasn't going to help—everyone seemed frozen in place. Someone was going to get hurt, or worse.

Then Danny heard a familiar authoritarian voice call out, "Lords of the Earth and Air aid me!" Danny could feel the living energy in the air flow towards his math teacher. Was she really going to use magic in front of everyone?

Danny looked down to see Sarah Daily thrust her hands, fisted tight, in front of her. Blue-gold lights wound up her body from her feet to her shoulders, then down her arms to her hands. In a blink, she raised her arms high and opened her hands wide. With a throwing gesture the firefly lights exploded from her palms to form a sparkling dome that covered her and the class, shielding them from the bombs and ecto blasts, which exploded harmlessly above them.

"Uh oh," Danny said, absently avoiding another attempt by Valerie to run him into the ground. Sarah's magic was completely visible to the entire staff and student body of Casper High. Off in the distance Danny could see Principal Ishiyama and a crowd of parents, including his own, watching the display of magic. _Of course. Only the appearance of my parents, the famous ghost hunters, could make this any worse, _he groaned to himself. He could hear bits of conversations from the crowd as knowledge of Miss Daily's shield was passed from one person to another.

"What the…?"

"How did she do that!"

Surprisingly, Danny's father was a little more articulate. "It's her! The magic ghost hunter!" His excited voice boomed easily above the chatter of the students.

A sound from behind Danny made him turn back to see Valerie sputtering uncontrollably, her eyes filled with rage. Gliding down to Sarah and hovering above the slowly dimming dome she shouted. "It was you the whole time! You're the one who's been hanging out with the ghost kid and helping him get away from me!"

Valerie leveled her weapon at Miss Daily who faced down the girl with her customary calmness. "Valerie you really don't want to hurt me, or risk hurting innocent civilians. Why don't we go inside and talk about this."

Valerie wasn't having any of it. "All the dizzy spells! All the malfunctions! It was you all along! You're protecting him!"

"Yes, I am," Sarah said not at all ashamed. "I protect him because he needs my help. That's what friends do."

"Phantom isn't anybody's friend!" Valerie sneered coldly. She raised her ecto cannon, but Danny shot it out of her hand, then, used the repulsion spell to bounce her closer to the ground and hold her there.

"What in the world are you thinking!" Danny scolded Valerie. "Your classmates are right behind her! Are you going to blast them too? Isn't that why Miss Daily had to use her powers in the first place? She wasn't protecting me this time! She was protecting them from your stray fire!"

"Shut up, ghost!" Valerie shouted, completely oblivious to the appalled and frightened stares from the other teens. She drew another weapon, but Sarah gestured, and Valerie's hover sled sputtered and died, dropping her the couple of feet to the ground.

"Enough," Sarah said sternly. "I help and protect Phantom because he needs it. He has few enough friends as it is."

The Principal and the other adults, feeling bolder now that there wasn't any active weapons fire, began to draw closer and voice their objections.

"He's robbed banks!"

"He's evil!"

"He's held our last mayor hostage!"

Jack Fenton narrowed his eyes and glared at the sorceress. "And I've seen it! He does everything you tell him! It was you! You were the one behind all of it!" Maddie nodded in agreement, and the two of them whipped out impossibly large ghost bazookas from impossibly small storage pockets in their jumpsuits.

"No!" Danny flew in front of Sarah, his arms spread out. Behind him, the last of the sparkle fizzled and the dome disappeared, but Sarah stood with her back to Lancer and the students, ready to protect them from the irate adults gathering near Phantom. "You don't understand! Sarah's a good person. She's not even a witch really! She just uses magic! She's trying to help people!" He sounded desperate, even to himself.

From behind him Danny heard Sarah whisper, "Danny, in your current condition you're hardly my best advocate right now."

It took Danny a few seconds to realize what Sarah meant by that. Most of the adults in Amity Park didn't like Danny Phantom, so of course they wouldn't trust anyone he considered a friend. It would be like Dash telling him that the football team wasn't going to hurt him. He'd never believe it.

"Oh," Danny said a little sheepishly. "Good point. So what do we do?"

From behind Lancer, Danny heard Tucker say in a nervous, squeaky voice, "Back away slowly and don't make eye contact?"

"I've got a better idea," Sarah said placing her hands on Danny's shoulders, keeping an eye on the growing mob of scowling adults. "Back away quickly and make some physical contact."

Danny glanced back at his teacher confused. She nodded towards the broken window where her office stood, and then Danny understood. "Gotcha!" he said. "Hang on!" Instantly Danny turned himself and Sarah intangible, and together they flew through the crowds and into her office.

Coming Soon… Chapter 9: Escape

Sam thought hard about this for about a second. "Miss Daily isn't going to just need a ghost's help. She's going to need some ordinary human help, too. And if I'm there, my parents might not get a stupid idea like burning down the house." Without warning Tucker or the others, Sam ran and jumped through the mirror, joining Danny and Miss Daily.

"Hey, Sam! Wait for me!" Tucker called out, as he took a running jump into the mirror as well.

Paulina watched for a second, then made up her mind. "If the ghost boy likes Miss Daily then I want to help her, too!" With a little more hesitation than Sam or Tucker, Paulina put her hand through the mirror. When she met with no resistance she stepped through to the other side.

"Paulina? No! Wait!" Star called out as she ran after her friend, and also went through the mirror.

Mikey moved past Dash and Kwan and said with a tiny shake in his voice, "I wanna help Miss Daily." With that, he jumped through the mirror too.

Dash and Kwan looked at each other. "Dude…are you thinking about going through there and helping Miss Daily?"

Dash sighed. Kwan was pretty good at reading people. "Do you think I should abandon the one math teacher who can actually get me to pass the state math test next month?"

He and Kwan looked at each other for a few more seconds, but made their decision together and jumped through the mirror together.


	9. Chapter 9

The Siege: Chapter 9

By Kellie Fay

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.

As always, reviews make an insecure author happy.

Special Thanks to Kidwrangler for editing

Chapter 9: Escape

The moment they were in the room, Danny let Sarah go and said, "Okay now what?"

Sarah put a force field up where the broken window stood, and then bustled about the room, scooping up a few essentials and tossing them into her school bag. "I don't know, Danny. Usually guardians aren't exposed in front of a large crowd." _Book, yes…tests, no._ The book sailed into the bag.

"Try it when there are TV cameras around," Danny said dryly. "Come on, Sarah. I know you can't be the first guardian who got caught using her powers." He slid sideways in the air to avoid a crystal….something…also aimed at the bag.

"No, but usually it's only one or two people and we can explain ourselves, like with Lancer. I might have to do a mind wipe or something on half the town, but I don't have the resources or the books to do it here." _Maybe Danny can come back and get some of my less dangerous materials,_ she thought, taking a moment to check how full her bag was getting.

"What about your home?" Danny asked.

Before Sarah could answer, both she and Danny sensed that most of her morning Math 1 class was heading towards her room. "What's going on?" Danny asked, turning towards the classroom door. "Feels like a bunch of kids are heading this way."

Sarah frowned thoughtfully. "I'm not sure. Sam and Tucker are among them, but there are a lot of other students, too." She eyed Danny hovering at her side. "Time to choose, Danny. Should they see Fenton or Phantom?"

Danny knew he really should change back and let everyone see only Danny Fenton, but he had an anxious feeling it might be a bad idea. "You might need me and my ghost powers," he reminded her, trying to figure out what was setting off his "protect" sense. "Plus most of the kids like Danny Phantom. I think I'll stay like this right now."

Sarah nodded. The pair moved out into the classroom, and Danny hovered near Sarah's desk, as his teacher and guardian selected a few more items for her bag. She was running out of room, but wanted to make sure nothing she left behind could be accidently misused.

Sam came striding in the door, Tucker behind her, half running and whining "slow down!" Behind Tucker came most of Sarah's first period math class.

Once Mikey was in, Sam shut the door, and in her most authoritative voice said, "Dash, Kwan, barricade the door!"

"Why should we listen to you freak?" Dash said nastily

Sam didn't even bother being annoyed. "Because," she answered flatly, "Half the school staff are going to come in to try to get Miss Daily."

Dash and Kwan looked at each other, and then slowly began pushing desks up against the door.

"I don't get it," Kwan said as he passed Dash a desk. "What was Principal Ishiyama so upset about? Miss Daily saved our lives."

"It's all that Red Hunter's fault," Paulina said with a sniff. "It was bad enough she was trying to hurt Phantom, but when she saw what Miss Daily did she started screaming witch." She certainly wasn't going to risk her nails by doing manual labor, but felt she was contributing to the work by standing nearby and looking beautiful.

"Miss Daily isn't really a witch is she?" Starr asked, edging a little closer to her friend.

"Technically, no," Tucker said cleaning his glasses. _He_ certainly couldn't be expected to haul desks around. He might hurt his hands and be unable to operate one of his PDA's. "She's more of what you'd call a sorceress. Witchcraft is actually considered a kind of religion."

"Oh," Dash said, then spun around and grabbed Tucker by his shirt front. "Wait a minute! You knew? You knew our teacher was a witch and you didn't tell us?"

"Not…a…witch!" Tucker choked out, his toes barely touching the floor.

"Dash! Put Tucker down," Sarah snapped. The hoard of children looked towards the front of the room and fell quiet, recognizing Sarah's tone of voice as _that's enough_. Instantly, Dash obeyed her; Tucker immediately moving to stand closer to Sam. "Yes, Dash. Tucker, Sam, and Danny all knew about my hobby. They found out by accident, and I asked them to keep it a secret. Tucker is correct when he told you I'm not a witch. I am, however, a sorceress."

"You may not be a witch," Sam said frowning, "but there is a witch hunt on for you now. No matter that you're the best teacher here and all the power you use comes from white magic. Because you use magic they've automatically labeled you 'evil', and you must be purged from the school."

"Is it that bad?" Sarah asked. When Sam nodded, the teacher sighed and thought about her options. She looked up to her left where Danny floated, quietly invisible. "Danny, go reconnoiter for me, please. How bad is bad?"

Danny rematerialized long enough to give Sam a smile, and wince at Paulina's "Ooo! It's the ghost boy!" Ignoring the looks the rest of the class gave him, Danny said, "Gotcha," and passed through the wall. Outside the eye of the storm, Danny found that the winds were definitely blowing against Miss Daily.

Principal Ishiyama and a dozen other teachers were standing around with Valerie, minus her ghost hunting suit, her father, and a few other parents, including Sam's and Danny's. Danny instantly went invisible and hovered at the edge of the group hoping not to be detected. At the center of the crowd was Mr. Lancer, being bombarded with questions.

"Did you know she was a witch?"

"How could you let a creature like that teach our children."

"What kind of screening process did you use that allowed a Satanist into the school system?"

"A witch like that controls ghosts! We gotta stop her!"

That last statement had come from Danny's own father. The one before had come from Sam's. _Hah! Neither one of them complained when Sam and I brought home our report cards last week_, Danny grumbled to himself. Sam, who did better in Math than Danny, received an A+, and Danny got his first B in Math…ever.

Danny could see Lancer backing away from the crowd. "Salem's Lot! How was I supposed to know she was a sorceress?" He was making patting motions in the air with his hands, trying to get the irate parents to calm down.

_Hmph_, Danny snorted, still hiding. _Even if I didn't know you knew about her magic you would have just given yourself away, _he thought. _Not that anyone out here knows the difference between a witch and a sorceress. _Still, Danny could see that Lancer was taking the middle ground. He couldn't say he knew and stick up for Sarah and keep his job, but if he played dumb he could still be grateful to her, and be a voice of reason. _ At least I hope that's what he's doing. _

Just to make sure Lancer knew where Danny stood, the young ghost suddenly dropped down and appeared in front of the crowd of angry adults. "You know, you people could be a little more considerate," he said tersely. "After all, he just had his life saved by the same teacher you're yelling about. She saved your kids' lives, too. Considering that someone was shooting at me..." Here he leveled a dark glare at Valerie, "I wouldn't have had time to race down there and shield anyone. Sarah protected those people. I don't see why you have a problem with the fact that she used magic to do it!"

A brief silence was interrupted by Jack Fenton shouting, "See! I told you she's the same witch that hangs out with that ghost kid! She must be able to control him!" He pointed at Danny, as if the rest of the group was incapable of seeing the hybrid, and then realized he didn't have a weapon in his hand. He reached over his shoulder and pulled out a large cylinder with a trigger, and aimed it at Danny.

"Using ghosts. I _knew_ there was something evil about her," Sam's mother said darkly.

"Can't trust someone who can control ghosts, can we, honey?" Maddie Fenton whipped a bazooka around to target Danny. Danny slipped a quick couple of feet farther back. His father might be loud and carry weird weapons, but his mother was _dangerous_.

Danny sighed and rolled his eyes. "Right. Because ripping apart ghosts molecule by molecule is so much more noble and good." Danny shook his head sadly. "I'm wasting my time talking to you people." He floated a little farther away, then stopped and looked at Lancer sternly. "She saved your life," he said firmly. "And she'll probably forgive you for the rest. I just hope you do the right thing." With that he turned invisible and headed back into the school, with Jack Fenton's disappointed "Aw, Maddie! I forgot to shoot!" fading behind him.

He dropped out of the classroom ceiling, startling several students. Sam and Tucker were together talking softly and the others were milling around uneasily.

"Oh! The ghost boy's back!" Paulina said happily, like Danny's own announcement service.

Sarah came out of her office, which made Danny wonder if she hadn't been watching him through the magical tag she'd implanted in him a while ago. "You saw?" he asked sadly. "Lancer's holding them at the main doors, but I don't know for how long."

Sarah nodded. "I would have told you not to waste your breath. They see only what they want to see. Just like when they look at you. They won't see the good that I do, only that I use magic. And what they don't understand, is frightening."

"Well, that bites," Starr said with a sigh.

"So what do we do?" Dash asked, banging a fist into his other hand.

Sarah sighed. "I'm going to go home. It's better defended, and from there I'll be able to contact some friends who can help me gather what I need to fix this mess. You all need to go home, too. Your parents will be worried."

"Are you gonna do magic on our parents?" Paulina asked, worried.

"I'm not sure yet," Sarah said honestly. "Mind you, I don't want to, but I should have the right to protect myself, shouldn't I?"

"Can't you, like, promise them you won't do magic anymore?" Dash asked. He, like Danny, liked Sarah Daily. Her unique math skills had brought up both boys' grades, and in his case, kept him on the football team.

"I don't think that's going to do it, Dash," Danny said, irritated with the group of adults. "The only thing that mob is missing are the pitchforks and the torches."

"In that case, I'm going to retreat and consider my options," Sarah said, picking up her well stuffed school bag. She moved into her office, with the class trailing behind her. She opened her locker to reveal the full length mirror inside, placed her hand on the mirror and said in a commanding voice, "**Through the passage the whole world to roam. Right now I will say there is no place like home**."

The mirror began to cloud up, reminding Danny strongly of a television screen. Blues, greens and yellows flowed through the glass. When it cleared, the students who had managed to crowd into the front of the group saw a room that looked like a cross between a library and a museum. Only Danny, Sam and Tucker knew that this was Miss Daily's living room.

"Is that your house?" Dash asked surprised. His height gave him an advantage, and he used it to peer over the shorter kids.

Sarah nodded. "And it's where I'm going now, Dash," she said unhappily. She turned to Danny and said, "Hold down the fort for me?" To her surprise Danny shook his head no.

"I'm going with you," he said firmly. Before she could open her mouth to protest, he said, "No arguments. You're good at defense, but I'm good at offense. I know the local ghosts, and the paranormal hunters better than you, and I don't think you should be off on your own. You wouldn't let me help the last time, but this time I'm not giving _you_ any choice." Danny folded his arms and stared down his teacher and guardian.

Sarah looked right back at Danny, and he could sense her touching his mind, trying to figure out his motives. "And what about your obligations to others?" she asked.

_She means Danny Fenton, and if I'm really going to do this, he's going to have to be MIA through most of this mess. But I am not leaving Sarah to do all this on her own. _ "We'll handle it," Danny sighed, getting a nod from Sam and a thumb's up from Tucker. "You've helped me out more times than I can count. This time I'm helping you."

From the back of the room both Danny and Sarah heard Tucker call, "If you're gonna go, Miss Daily, you'd better go now. I can hear them coming."

Sarah looked back at Danny, who was determined not to be left behind. "We don't have time to argue," Danny insisted. "Let's go."

Sarah couldn't help but smile. Danny had a lot to learn about having special powers and a secret identity, but his heart was in the right place. "You are a very sweet little ghost, and I accept your generous offer." She gave Danny a quick peck on the cheek and then, to the shock of the students, stepped _through_ the mirror.

Danny grinned. Sarah tried not to be touchy feely, but there were times when she couldn't resist. He turned to see the other students staring, and tried very hard not to blush. "You guys scatter. Try to keep the adults from doing anything stupid. I'll protect Sarah." With that, he flew through the mirror. All the students watched, amazed, as they saw both their teacher and the ghost boy now moving around in the room reflected in the mirror.

Sam had been thinking hard about what could happen to her teacher. Maybe she didn't have ghost powers, but she had some pretty good research powers. "Miss Daily isn't going to just need a ghost's help," she said addressing Tucker. "She's going to need some ordinary human help, too. And if I'm right there in her house, my parents might not get a stupid idea like burning it down." Without warning Tucker or the others, Sam ran and jumped through the window.

"Sam! Wait for me!" Tucker yelled. He wriggled through the crowd of students until he got up to the front and took a running jump into the mirror.

Paulina watched for a moment, the students around her shuffling uneasily and murmuring to each other, then made up her mind. "If the ghost boy likes Miss Daily, then I want to help her, too!" With a little more hesitation than Sam or Tucker, Paulina put her hand through the mirror. When she met with no resistance, she carefully stepped through to the other side.

"Paulina? No! Wait!" Starr called out. She ran after her friend, passing through the mirror before she realized it.

Mikey moved pass Dash and Kwan, and said with a tiny shake in his voice, "I wanna help Miss Daily." With that, he jumped through the mirror, eyes closed tight.

Dash and Kwan looked at each other. "Dude…are you thinking about going through there and helping Miss Daily?" Kwan asked.

Dash sighed. Kwan was pretty good at reading people. "Do you think I should abandon the one math teacher who can actually get me to pass the state math test next month?"

He and Kwan looked at each other for a few more seconds, looked at the mirror, then around at the empty classroom. Together they shrugged. Although the two sturdy football players had to practically bend double, they managed to fit through the mirror, and stumbled out on the other side.

Coming Soon Chapter 10: Within the House

Everyone's attention went back to the mirror where, sure enough, all the adults from the school were crowded into her office and peering into the mirror.

"Sarah!" Danny said urgently. "You have to shut down the mirror!"

"Can they see us through that?" Sam said, squinting a little at the adults crowded around the other side of the glass.

Sam's mother suddenly screamed and pointed. They couldn't hear what she shouted, but Tucker said, "I'm guessing that's a yes."

"Yes, they can," Sarah said grimly. "And now they know you're all here. I am _so_ fired."

Suddenly, a beam of green energy came out of the mirror and struck the wall, scattering students to all corners of the room.

"They're shooting at us through the mirror!" Dash shouted, amazed that anyone thought shooting at high schoolers was a good idea.

Danny looked at his father with his ecto gun, and back at Sarah. "I have an idea," he said firmly. "I'm going back through. Once I'm through, do whatever you have to do to close the mirror. I'll fly back here on my own."

Sarah nodded, a little worried. "Be careful, Danny,"


	10. Chapter 10

The Siege: Chapter 10

By Kellie Fay

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.

As always, reviews make an insecure author happy.

Special Thanks to Kidwrangler for editing

Chapter 10: Within the house

Danny felt ten times safer the moment they passed through the mirror into Miss Daily's home. She had layered many more spells on the house than she had on the classroom, and he felt himself relax a little. "Protections first?" he asked, still floating at her side.

Sarah nodded. "I'll need a few things from my inner library. Danny, you stay right here."

Danny grinned while Sarah moved the book that opened the door to the inner library. "You won't get any argument from me. One visit in there was enough!" He watched Sarah slip into her secret room, then moved to the fireplace to light the fire with a small, controlled ectoburst. Turning from the cheerful blaze, Danny was startled to see Sam and Tucker jump out of the mirror. "Sam? Tucker? What are you guys doing here?"

"We wanna help Miss Daily, too," Sam said firmly. Danny wasn't the only one who could be stubborn. "Our parents can't do anything if we're in the house with her."

Danny wasn't sure it was a great idea that his friends had followed him, and certainly wasn't going to trust the Mansons to be reasonable, with or without Sam on the premises, but he wasn't about to say that to Sam. "Uh…Sarah? I think you'd better get out here." Sam and Tucker were used to Danny talking into thin air by now. If Sarah wasn't in earshot she would still hear Danny's thoughts.

From the direction of the inner library Danny heard Sarah think, _In a second, Danny. I need a few more things. _

Just then the mirror flared. Paulina jumped out, followed by Starr. "Paulina, I don't think this is such a good – Hey! Where are we?" Starr bumped into the back of Paulina, who had stopped suddenly.

Paulina's full attention was on Danny. "Hello, ghost boy!" she said eagerly, a big smile on her face. "I've come to help Miss Daily, too! I mean anybody that _you_ like has got to be cool, right?" Starr nodded along with Paulina's comments, her eyes wide.

Danny felt himself involuntarily jerk back a couple of feet, while his lunch turned into stone in his stomach. "Um…uh…uh…hi?" Danny stuttered uneasily. Privately, Danny called silently, _Sarah, you'd better get out here! _ He refused to make eye contact with Sam, who was scowling, or Tucker, who was grinning.

_I'll be right there, Danny! _ Miss Daily answered, a bit testily.

Danny sighed, then gulped as Mikey, Dash, and finally, Kwan, came out of the mirror. "Ohhhh, man," he groaned, staring at the teenagers milling around in front of him. "SARAH!!!"

The bookcase moved and Sarah stomped out with three books under one arm and a few other items cradled carefully to her chest. "For crying out loud, Danny! What is so important that --" She broke off abruptly, seeing the group of students standing in her living room. "What are you kids doing here?!"

Sam, her chin jutted obstinately in the air, said, "Tucker and I are gonna help." Her combat boots seemed to plant themselves in the braided rug, her arms crossed in front of her.

"Yeah! Me, too!" chimed in the other teens, elbowing each other to be able to stand in front and be seen.

"Oh," Sarah said, sheepishly. Recovering quickly, she shook her head authoritatively. "I appreciate you kids wanting to help, but it's too dangerous."

"So?" Sam challenged, dropping her arms to put her hands belligerently on her hips.

Danny didn't like this any more than Sarah did. He floated closer to the group and tried to sound reasonable. "Look, guys. If you stay here your parents are going to think you're being controlled. They already think that Sarah is controlling me."

Sam turned her attention to her friend and rolled her eyes. "And you really think I care about what my parents think? Besides, if I'm here my parents won't do anything stupid…like try to burn the house down."

Sarah looked nonplussed. "They'd really do that?"

Tucker nodded in agreement. "My parents, no. Her parents, definitely yes."

From the back of the group Mikey said, "Then you guys better do something, cuz they're in Miss Daily's office right now!"

Everyone's attention snapped back to the mirror, where, sure enough, all the adults from the school were crowded into her office, peering into Sarah's living room through what could be mistaken as a window.

"Sarah!" Danny said, slightly panicked. "You have to shut down the mirror!"

"Can they see us through that?" Sam wondered.

Mrs. Manson suddenly screamed silently, and pointed a shaky finger at Sam.

Sound didn't travel through the mirror, but Tucker was pretty sure he could fill in what was being said anyway. "I'm guessing they can."

"Yes, they can," Sarah said, annoyed. "And now that they know you're all here, I am _so_ fired."

Suddenly, a beam of green energy shot out of the mirror and struck the opposite wall. Paulina screamed, and even Kwan yelped and dropped flat on the floor.

"They're shooting at us!" Dash yelled, shocked. He looked around before deciding behind a large, padded chair was the perfect hiding place.

Jack Fenton waved his arms boisterously, his mouth opening and closing. Maddie, with the ease of long practice, ducked the ectogun clutched in Jack's hand and tried to shove the much larger man out of the way so she could see what was going on. Danny looked at his father, then back at Sarah. "I've got an idea," he announced. He nodded at the glass, now showing Mr. Manson fanning Sam's mother with a handful of papers, while Maddie studied the surface of the mirror closely through her goggles. "I'm going back. Once I'm through, do whatever you have to do to close the mirror, as fast as you can. I'll fly back here on my own."

Sarah nodded. She really wasn't comfortable with him confronting the angry adults on his own, but she now had a group of confused and frightened teenagers to look after. "Be careful Danny,"

Coming Soon Chapter 11 Confrontation:

"Oh!" Sam's mother "My poor baby, being held hostage by that horrible witch."

Danny couldn't help himself he laughed. "Man lady you don't know your kid at all. She led them all to Sarah's house!"

"Impossible!" Sam's mother said firmly. "That horrible witch must have cast a spell on her."


	11. Chapter 11

The Siege: Chapter 11

By Kellie Fay

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.

As always, reviews make an insecure author happy.

Special Thanks to Kidwrangler for editing

Chapter 11: Confrontation

Danny nodded and flew through the mirror again. Jack's eyes widened as he yelled "Ghost!" and fired his ectogun directly at Danny.

Danny made an ecto shield and the blast from the Fenton Ecto-Eliminator flared harmlessly before reaching him or passing through the mirror. He glared crossly at all the adults and let the shield dissolve. "What! Are you people crazy? Your kids are in there!"

"Oh, Jeremy!" Sam's mother wailed. "My poor baby! Being held hostage by that horrible witch." Mr. Manson glared fiercely at Danny and fanned his wife faster.

Danny couldn't help himself. He laughed. "Lady, you don't know your kid at all. She led them all to Sarah's house!"

Showing amazing powers of recuperation, Pamela Manson stood up straight and pushed away her husband's supportive arm. "Impossible! That horrible witch must have cast a spell on her."

"Right," Danny said as sarcastically as he could. "Because she's always been such a sweet and obedient daughter. Mrs. Manson, your daughter LIKES Miss Daily. All the kids do! She's a great teacher! What about that A Sam got just last week?" Danny turned to his father and demanded, "What about your son's B? When was the last time your kid got a B in math?"

Both Jack and Maddie stared at the ghost, trying to get their mouths to work. Lancer, who was in the back of the crowd, stared at Danny, puzzled. "How do you know what grades our students have?"

Danny bit his lip nervously. Maybe he shouldn't have been quite so specific. Lancer had been smart enough to figure out that Sarah was a sorceress; Danny really didn't want him to figure out who _he_ was. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he answered in that annoying, snippy tone every teenager knew drove adults crazy. "I know a lot more about you people than you think I do, and you don't know anything about me or Sarah."

"Sarah or I," Lancer corrected automatically. Danny just rolled his eyes.

Behind him he could feel the energies of the mirror shift as Sarah closed down the spell. "Whatever," he snapped. "Maybe, just maybe, if you folks would start treating her like the decent human being she, is instead of the way you treat me, and swear not to hurt her, _maybe_ your kids will come out willingly. Otherwise, I'm going to have to protect Sarah, and your kids, from your stupidity." With that, Danny flew up into the ceiling, turned invisible, and returned to the room to float comfortably against the ceiling tiles and listen to what the adults were saying.

"Our children are at that creature's house?" Sam's mother sputtered out. "We have to save them!"

"She has to be controlling them!" Danny's father said forcefully. "And when I get through that mirror I'll –Hey! The picture's gone!"

Maddie walked up to the mirror and touched the smooth surface, looking at her reflection. "Amazing. It looks like an ordinary mirror now."

It _was_ an ordinary mirror. Danny knew it was Sarah who gave the mirror power. She even used the mirrors in his house to help him and Jazz travel to and from her home. He chuckled quietly to himself while he watched his parents examine the mirror, then covered his mouth quickly as one of the parents frowned in his direction.

"Forget the mirror!" Dash's father shouted angrily. "Our kids are trapped now in that witch's house!"

_Trapped?_ Danny laughed silently. _You couldn't get them to leave with a crowbar._

"We have to go rescue them!" Danny's father announced. Waving his ectogun like a baton, he gathered up the other parents and led them on a charge through the classroom door.

Maddie elbowed her way to her husband's side, trying to avoid the stampede of bodies all trying to get through the door at the same time. "What's the plan, honey?" she asked, patting her pockets to see what kind of weaponry she had with her.

"Fentons don't plan!" he cried. "Fentons just do!"

The bottleneck broke suddenly, spilling Jack out into the hall. Picking himself up, he lumbered enthusiastically after the crowd. "That's my honey!" praised Maddie. "But what do you say we try an _itty-bitty_ plan…just for something different this time." Voices and footsteps faded down the hall.

The quiet in the room was a bit of a shock after the loud, competing voices of angry parents. Lancer and Teslaff, the gym and health teacher, looked around, and then at each other. They were the only ones left in the classroom.

"Hmmm…always knew there was something odd about Daily," Teslaff scowled. Danny couldn't tell if she was angry or not. Teslaff narrowed her eyes to stare suspiciously at Lancer. "And I'm betting you knew something before this."

Lancer glared at the gym teacher crossly. "And how was I supposed to know that Miss Daily had magical powers." He drew little air quotes around the words _magical powers_, as if to emphasize how unbelievable the whole situation was.

To Danny's surprise, Teslaff laughed and punched the pudgy literature teacher in the upper arm. "Come on Lancer…I know you. You don't watch people that closely unless you know they're up to something. You hired her, but since the first day she's stepped into school you've been watching her…waiting for her to slip up."

"I haven't been waiting for her to slip up," Lancer said defensively, rubbing his arm. He was sure the stocky gym teacher had given him a bruise. "After that distasteful incident with the Circus Gothica ringmaster, I've been thinking that having a sorceress around might not be a bad thing." He gave Teslaff a sly glance. "You don't seem to be too upset about finding out about Miss Daily's extra curricular activities either." _Extra curricular_ got another set of air quotes.

Teslaff shrugged and ran a callused hand through her hair. "She's a good for a first year teacher. She likes the kids and the kids like her. Even kids who aren't in her class seem to like her, so it can't just be magic. During Teen Health Day I listened to her. She knows a lot more than just adding and whatever hocus pocus she's been throwing around." She shrugged again. "I don't think she should just get fired just because she's got magic powers."

Lancer sighed. "With all the ghosts around, I think we'll need her _and_ her powers, but I don't think anyone is going to listen to us." Lancer dropped into thought for a moment then said, "I'm going to join the other adults at Miss Daily's house. Perhaps, once they've sat outside for a few hours, they'll want a mediator."

"_Outside_ her house?" Teslaff asked, puzzled.

"Sarah is very good at what she does," Lancer said with a sly grin. "I'm sure her home is very well protected, and in ways we can't even imagine."

Teslaff snorted. "That's not going to make every one else feel better about her using magic, but I'll reserve judgment until I can see for myself. Don't like relying on hearsay." She bent down to tighten the laces on one sneaker, causing Lancer to clap a hand to his eyes to prevent the picture of Teslaff's rather generous rear end, barely covered in shorts, from being burned permanently into his brain. Satisfied, she straightened and marched out of the room.

After a few seconds, Lancer followed, but more slowly. Danny phased up out of the school and made a bee line to Sarah's house. Already he could see the crowd of adults forming a rough semi-circle on the sidewalk in front of Sarah's neat, brick home.

Coming Soon Chapter 12 Back Home Again

" Sarah stopped in mid sentence and shivered all over.

Danny knew why. He felt the tremor across his skin as well. Because Sarah used a lot of his energy to build her protections Danny was just as sensitive to breeches in her wards as she was. "Did you feel that?" He asked her.

Sarah nodded.

"What's wrong?" Dash asked worried.

Danny floated over to the window while he explained. "Someone just passed through Sarah's wards. Now he can't be angry or want to hurt Sarah. The wards will still keep those people out, but the wards don't recognized whoever it - Oh man! It's Lancer


	12. Chapter 12

The Seige:

Chapter 12 Back Home Again

By Kellie Fay

Authors note:

Usually I don't bother with authors notes unless their important to me, and well many of you have heard my pet peaves about never posting a story until it was done and then put it up all at once or at least over a few days. Well The Seige was done some time ago and I did start posting but I made a critical error and only had one soft copy of the entire story.

Then my flash drive died. Yes the one with the story on it. I managed to salvage what I could but I am now stuck with again half a story. Of course this happens right when school started and I've been too busy to finish rewriting the story AGAIN. I am trying to work on it and I'm going to try to go back to posting again, but this is going to take time. So I apologize, I will try to update as I can, but I don't know when I'll be done, again.

Special thanks to Kidwrangler for editing, and hopefully I'll be back in business soon.

Chapter 12 Back Home Again

Just before he dove down to go into Sarah's house he heard his teacher speak gently into his mind. _Danny before you come in, grab a piece of the hedge from around the house. I'm going to work a spell to keep those who are angry and threatening out._

Danny didn't even bother to answer her. He swooped down, turned partially intangible to go through the hedges, and snapped up a piece of greenery while he passed through. A second later he phased into the house and saw Miss Daily fielding the group's obvious questions.

"So magic is like some kind of hobby for you?" Paulina asked Sarah.

"Kind of," Sarah admitted. "My mother had natural magical abilities so I saw her using magic all the time. I didn't, so when I was old enough I wanted to study magic that I could do."

"You had to study magic?" Kwan asked amazed.

"Of course," Sarah said with a smile. "To get good at anything you have to study and practice it."

"Practice?" Dash said sounding nervous. "Like on us?"

"No Dash I don't practice on students," Sarah said with a heavy sigh. "I don't practice on anyone unless they agree to it. Most of the magic I study is for healing or to help and protect people."

Star looked skeptical. "Have you ever cast spells on us?"

Sarah looked thoughtful. "Well there are a few spells layered in the classroom. They're mostly protections, but I couldn't resist putting spells of peace and focus on the room as well."

"What the heck is a spell of focus?" Dash asked puzzled.

Sam folded her arms across her chest and looked cross. "It means she has spells on the room to make us do our class work."

There were gasps all around the room. "You _made_ us do work by magic?" Star asked suddenly frightened.

"No!" Sarah said with a slight glare at Sam. "All the spell does is make you focus on something important. Ninety percent of the time it is my class, but I know that you Star have studied for your English test in my class, Kwan and Dash trade football plays in the back of the room, and I know Sam Tucker and Danny pass notes, I don't know what the notes contain, but I'm sure they have to be very important."

Dash frowned in thought. "Yeah but Kwan and I only did that before a couple of games."

"Oh I get it!" Mikey said with a grin. "The spell of focus makes us concentrate on something important to us. Most of the time it is your class but if we have something more important going on we concentrate on that."

"Not exactly," Sarah said with a smile. "It _helps_ you concentrate. It doesn't make you. I would never do a spell on anyone directly unless it was to protect myself or them." Then she said slyly, "And nobody was complaining last week when they got their report cards."

Suddenly it occurred to Danny that it might be a good time for everyone to see Danny Fenton. Granted he was going to stay in ghost mode a lot to protect Sarah but if Fenton didn't seem to be here everyone would think he didn't like Sarah.

He silently flew into the kitchen and quickly transformed. Without anyone noticing him he moved to the edge of the group and said out loud. "Hey if having a magic spell on me makes me get B's in math I'm all for it."

Everyone in the room spun around. "Danny?" Sam said obviously surprised.

"What are you doing here Fenton?" Dash said harshly.

Danny looked Dash square in the eye. He was going to get to finally speak his mind around Dash because Sarah wouldn't let Dash hurt him. "What do you think I don't want to help Miss Daily out to? This is my first B in math in years! I don't care if magic made me do it." That last bit he made with a broad grin and a wink at Sarah. He knew about the spells and exactly what they did. They also kept Dash from pounding on him anywhere near Sarah's classroom. He wasn't particularly fond of the magic used to control ghosts, but he could live with a sorceress for a teacher. Dash was still looking for an explanation on how Danny got here without any of them noticing. So Danny said, "I saw you and Kwan going through the mirror right before our folks got there. I wasn't about to be the one to explain everything so I followed you guys."

That seemed to mollify Dash, but he glared at Danny anyway. Danny of course expected nothing less out of Dash. Gingerly Danny came forward, and placed the piece of hedge in Sarah's hand. "Here Danny Phantom, came in while you were talking to everyone and told me to give this to you."

"He did?" Paulina looked around. "Why isn't he here now?"

"He told me he was going to patrol outside looking for the adults," Danny said smoothly. Sarah smiled and winked at Danny. Both of them knew that Danny couldn't tell them the truth.

"Good thinking on his part," Sarah said going along with the fib, "but I need him inside now. I do want to add more protections to the house and I'm going to need his help to do it."

"I think I know where he went," Danny said quickly. "I'll go get him."

Before anyone could say anything else Danny ran into the kitchen and out the back door. Hiding behind the green house in case anyone peeked out the window, Danny quickly transformed and to add verisimilitude to the story Danny Fenton just fed the group Danny rose about a hundred feet into the air to check on the parents.

Sure enough he saw his parents RV leading a crowd of adults toward the house. Instantly Danny knew that Sarah was going to need his help in setting those protections.

Danny flew right down through the top of the house. "You're ready for those protections now?" He asked. Sarah nodded firmly.

"It's either now or never," She said sitting down on the floor with the branch of hedge in front of her. Danny floated over and settled himself on the floor facing her.

"What are you two doing?" Dash asked uneasily. It was one thing to know your teacher was magic. It was another thing all together to watch her do magic with a ghost.

"I'm just going to put a better magic fence around my property," Sarah said evenly as she drew symbols on the floor around the branch. "It's not going to hurt anyone, but anyone who wants to hurt anyone in here will not be able to get past my hedge much less up to the front door. You guys can help to if you want."

"Us? Help?" Paulina asked puzzled. "What can we do?"

"Get around Danny and me in a circle." Sarah instructed. While the students complied she said, "Everyone hold hands and concentrate on a big strong fence where my hedge is. Just keep that image in your heads until I'm done."

Gingerly the students did as they were told. Sam couldn't resist taking a peek at Danny and Miss Daily in the center of the room. This wouldn't be the first time Sarah had used Danny's ghost energy to do magic, but it would be the first time that anyone else helped them. She did concentrate on the image of a fence but still she watched to see what Miss Daily and Danny were doing.

Sarah took Danny's hands in hers. Danny nodded and bowed his head his eyes closed in concentration. Danny began to glow a bright luminescent green a signal he was doing something with his ghost powers. The green began to envelope Sarah who began to chant.

Hedges grow and circle round

Keep those within both safe and sound

anger, hatred, violence, fear

block them out from those in here

Sam saw the green energy from Danny focus onto the piece of hedge. A blue energy from Miss Daily joined it and then it grew into a large ring which spread outward further and further, passing through her and the other students. The moment the ring passed through her Sam felt a strange fluttery sensation in her stomach. She managed to keep the image of a fence in her mind despite the surprise of feeling the magic and seconds later Miss Daily looked up and smiled at them.

"That's good everyone. Now no one can get past my hedge unless they are not being aggressive."

"So what are you going to do now Miss Daily?" Mikey asked sadly. "You can't stay in here forever,"

"I don't intend to, Mikey," Sarah said. I just need some time to consider my options. There is always the hope that once they realize they can't get in, that your parents will actually calm down and think about this."

At that moment all the kids looked at each other and heaved a heavy sigh. "Not likely," they all said in unison.

Danny refrained from joining in. He was in ghost form and as far as the other kids knew he didn't have parents. _Though if you lived at one time one would assume you have parents. They just don't know that mine are right out side along with theirs._

Sarah acknowledged the students with a sad nod. "Then I'll have to think of something to defuse the whole situation."

"Can't you just cast a spell on all of them to make them like you?" Dash asked Sarah.

"Could you trust me if I did?" Sarah asked back sadly. All the students save Sam and Tucker lowered their heads sadly.

"It wouldn't bother me if you did it to my parents," Sam said. "Maybe they'd give me a break."

"It's still not fair, Sam," Sarah said. "I'd rather find a less controlling way to resolve this."

"Hey!" Kwan asked. "Can you do magic to like go back in time and fix everything?"

"NO!" Sarah and Danny both said sounding both a little too nervous and upset at the idea. Sarah took a deep breath and tried again to sound calmer. "Sorry Kwan but I know about time spells. Time travel is messy dangerous and it gives me nosebleeds, and Time Lords usually say no when you ask them to help."

"And I wouldn't ask him for help even if you begged me to," Danny added.

That puzzled everyone else. "Wait you actually know a Time Lord?" Mikey asked.

Danny nodded. "And Sarah's right about their attitude. The only thing worse than going to ask them for help only to hear no, is the fact that they might let you try to change time. Did that once, will never do that again. I make mistakes but that's one I don't wanna make twice. If you want my opinion I'd say your best bet is a memory spell."

Sarah sighed. "I know, but I still don't like that idea."

"What's a memory spell?" Asked Star.

Sarah glanced at Danny expecting him to answer. He took a deep breath and said, "basically it's a spell that will make your parents forget the fact that your math teacher is a sorceress. It won't make them like her and they won't do everything she says. They'll just forget."

"It's still a form of control," Sarah said with a warning in her voice. "I wouldn't be erasing their memories, just blocking them."

"Isn't that more dangerous?" Sam asked. "I mean if the memories are just blocked there's a chance they can be restored. If the memories are taken away their just gone"

"That is why ethical magic users won't erase memories. It's like stealing something from the individual. And you never know there might be a reason to restore the memories one day. Besides it's way easier to block the memories than erase them. People block their memories all the time to forget traumatic events. I'm just telling their minds to do something natural, not burning out brain cells."

Star looked at Sarah sadly. "Are you really going to do this?"

"It's not my idea it's Phantom's," Sarah said sounding resigned. "But it is a good idea. It is control but not as much as if I did something else, but I won't do it if you don't want me to, besides In order for this to take I'll probably need everyone's help again."

"You will?" Tucker asked puzzled. "Why?"

"You're parents are out there because they're worried about all of you. They're frightened and they think their rescuing you. No matter what I do to them right now won't stick as long as they think you're in danger. If you all become part of the spell you can sort of tell them in their minds that allowing the spell to take hold will help you, and your parents will respond to that. You're parents just want what's best for you, all you are going to do is tell them what that is."

Sam nodded understanding. "So we're the ones actually making our parents forget, and they will because we're telling them that's what we want."

Exactly," Sarah said.

Sam closed her eyes and smiled with a small nod. "I can live with that. I'm for it."

"Ditto," Tucker said.

"It's fine with me," Paulina said. She didn't sound as she gave it much thought.

Star, Kwan, Mikey and Dash looked a little uncertain. 'I don't know," Star said.

"You don't have to decide now," Sarah said evenly. "Maybe we won't have to resort to magic after all. Maybe after a few hours –" Sarah stopped in mid sentence and shivered all over.

Danny knew why. He felt the tremor across his skin as well. Because Sarah used a lot of his energy to build her protections Danny was just as sensitive to breeches in her wards as she was. "Did you feel that?" He asked her.

Sarah nodded.

"What's wrong?" Dash asked worried.

Danny floated over to the window while he explained. "Someone just passed through Sarah's wards. Now he can't be angry or want to hurt Sarah. The wards will still keep those people out, but the wards don't recognized whoever it - Oh man! It's Lancer!

Coming Soon Chapter 13 Negotiations

"A witch teach our daughter no way!" Sam's father said.

Sam shook her head and turned her back to them. "In that case we have nothing to talk about. I'll be in the house with the others when you're ready to listen to reason." She took three steps away from her parents when she felt something catch and tug on to her skirt. The tug forced her backwards two feet before she felt Danny grab on to her and pull. Instantly she was ten feet up in the air with her arms wrapped around Danny. In his left hand he held the Fenton Fisher.

"That was a cheep shot," Danny said angrily to the crowd turning visible. He tossed the Fenton fisher not down at his father's feet but Sam's parents. "Leave the ghost fishing to the Fentons," Danny ordered them. "They at least don't try to hurt anyone but the ghosts. Sam told you she'd talk to you when you all are ready to discuss this thing reasonably. That doesn't invite you to try to kidnap her!"

"I can't kidnap her! She's my daughter you ghost!" Sam's father shot back at him. He now snatched the ectoblaster from Danny's mother and shot at Danny. Sam screamed and buried her head in Danny's shoulder.

Danny didn't move. He didn't even flinch.


	13. Chapter 13

The Seige

By Kellie Fay

AN: Yes sill trying to post, Still rewriting. Reviews will make this insecure author very happy.

Special thanks to Kidwrangler for editing.

Chapter 13: Negotiations

Ron Lancer approached the crowd of adults uneasily. The excitement and anger of the parents had faded to a low rumble of anxiety, uncertainty and antagonism now that they were actually milling around Sarah Daily's front gate. At the edge of the group Jasmine Fenton and Valerie Grey stood together, looking worried.

Jazz was the first one to notice him. "Mr. Lancer," she called, moving forward. Lancer could tell Jazz was very concerned. He could see the worry lines on her forehead that usually appeared only when she thought she hadn't studied enough, or when talking about her brother. She was clutching her notebook and pen nervously. "Have you heard anything from Miss Daily at all? Why is she holding her math class hostage?"

"I don't know," he admitted thoughtfully. "It's not what I would have expected of her. Usually she tries to keep others out of danger."

Jazz gave out a pensive sigh. "Do you know who she has hostage? I can't find my brother or his friends anywhere."

"I didn't see your brother among the students Miss Daily chose to take with her," Lancer told her, "but I know Samantha and Tucker were there, and we both know your brother has an amazing ability to be where he shouldn't."

"Was Star with them?" Valerie asked worriedly, running over Jazz's questions in her haste to hear about her friend.

Mr. Lancer sighed heavily. "I'm not sure." He sounded like the admission was being pulled out through his teeth. "We could see the students through a mirror that seemed to act like a window of some kind. Danny Phantom actually few back through and confronted us again, but by the time he flew away, the mirror looked like any other mirror."

Jazz visibly relaxed. Before Lancer could ask Jazz why she seemed so relieved, Valerie asked, shocked, "Wait a minute! Are you telling me that Miss Daily has a magic mirror in her office?"

"The mirror isn't magic," Lancer said firmly. Valerie's disbelief was palpable. He thought for a moment and added, "she did request we provide her with a full length mirror before she started as a teacher. I, myself, purchased that mirror for her at a yard sale, in fact. I doubt it had any magical potential before that."

"I'll bet Miss Daily could use any mirror, and just enchanted it herself," Jazz said. She sounded a little too confident in her guess, though. Mr. Lancer suspected that, like her brother Danny, who adored Sarah Daily, Jazz knew far more about the sorceress teacher than she should.

"How do you know so much about Miss Daily's magic?" Valerie demanded accusingly, turning to scowl at the red haired teen.

"It's just a guess," Jazz said, a little too defensively. "Besides…Danny's in and out of Miss Daily's room all day in school and he's never mentioned her having magic powers."

"He's probably been under her spell for weeks," Valerie said ominously. "Everybody has. They all think she's great, and she's been sittin' up in front of them, just smiling and acting so sweet, 'cuz she was controlling them."

"And not you?" Jazz shot back.

"Ah, ladies…" Lancer started, only to be cut off by an impatient arm wave by Valerie.

"I...I think...there might be something about me that makes me immune to her powers." She didn't look directly at Jazz, and Lancer wondered at her sudden loss of confidence.

"You weren't immune to the spell she cast on you when you were fighting Danny Phantom," Jazz reminded her tartly. "Or the twenty or so other spells she's used on you to protect him."

"Are you talking about the dizzy spells?" Valerie looked puzzled, then in a shock of angry realization she shouted, "Wait! You knew about the other spells? YOU KNEW SHE WAS A WITCH?" Lancer watched the situation deteriorate, but before he could intervene, Valerie tried to tackle Jasmine. A quick sidestep and Jasmine barely avoided being knocked over, while Valerie ran into the hedge instead, crying out in pain. "Damned thorns! They did it again!"

"You okay?" Jazz pulled Valarie off of the bushes as gently as possible. The thorns didn't even break her skin, but Valarie wrenched herself out of Jazz's hands to glare and rub her arms angrily.

"_Flowers for Algernon_!" Lancer exclaimed anxiously. "What was that all about?"

"The hedge has been doing that since everyone arrived," Jazz explained. "Anytime anyone tries to go past, these thorns just come out of nowhere and stick you. No one's gotten really hurt, though."

"Sez you," Valerie snapped, still angry. "You're the only one the hedge doesn't attack!"

"What?"

And isn't that interesting, Lancer thought, regarding the hedge with a little more attention.

Jazz shrugged, and placed her hand on the hedge. No thorns appeared to poke holes in her skin. "It's true, Mr. Lancer. So far, I'm the only one who can touch the hedge without getting stuck."

"Hmmmmm." Lancer thought about what he knew about Sarah. Most of her magic was more about defense than offense. Lancer closed his eyes, tried to settle his thoughts, and then reached his hand out towards the hedge. He felt leaves and twigs, and nothing else.

"How'd you do that?" Valerie demanded. "I swear the hedge sticks anyone else who tries to get near it."

"So far, all anyone has seen Miss Daily use her abilities for is defense or escape," Lancer reminded the girl in the tone of voice that said _you are very close to crossing the line so watch_ _how you speak to me_. "She is obviously protecting herself, but apparently she doesn't consider Jasmine or myself a threat to her."

"Does that mean we could get to the house?" Jasmine asked eagerly. Several parents, including the Fentons, had been drawn to the scene between Jazz and Valerie and had started to drift over. Lancer was recognized, and as the word was passed, more parents joined in to converge on the vice principal.

Jack overheard Jazz's question and bellowed, "We can't get to the house! There's an evil magic hedge all around it!" He pointed to the greenery, as if no one else would otherwise know what he was talking about.

"The hedge isn't evil, Dad," Jazz explained as her parents got closer. "It's just protecting her. I don't see what the big deal is about her having magic powers. The hedge isn't attacking me, so I could go in and find Danny and--"

"And let that creature cast a spell on you?" Sam's mother interrupted with a sniff. "If you were my daughter I wouldn't let you."

Maddie shot a narrowed eye look at the perfectly dressed Mrs. Manson, and then ignored her. "I want to find Danny as much as you do Jazz, but I'm not risking losing you in there, too. It's a bad idea."

"But, Mom!" Jazz continued to push, even as her mother reached to pull her into the group of adults. "The hedges will let me in! I can at least go talk to the other kids."

The argument continued, but Lancer decided he couldn't learn anything more out here. Taking advantage of the growing disagreements, he allowed himself to be elbowed to the back of the group. When he was sure he had been temporarily forgotten, and all attention was on the loud arguments in the middle of the group, he drifted away as nonchalantly as possible. A few yards, and he was in front of Miss Daily's front gate. Lancer took a deep breath. _I'm sure this wasn't on my job description_, he thought ruefully. Focusing his thoughts on the fact he didn't want to hurt Sarah Daily, he just wanted to talk to her and the students, he reached for the gate. It swung open easily. Very quietly, while the others argued, Lancer made his way slowly to the front door.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Danny turned instantly to Sarah. "What do we do?"

Sarah looked out the window and stared at Lancer. "Well, he's not angry and he's not out to hurt anyone. He is very concerned for all of you, but he's not blaming me for this."

Sam and the others all looked toward the window. "Do you think if we explain to Mr. Lancer why we're here, he'll explain it to our parents?" Sam asked.

"I don't know," Sarah said with a shake of her head. She was pretty sure that even if Ron understood, the parents wouldn't.

"Well, I'd like to give it a try." Sam had that chin up, stubborn look on her face that said _don't even think about crossing me_. Tucker knew that look well, but wasn't sure how well it would go over on a vice principal.

Sarah thought a moment. She doubted if the young Goth could make things any worse, and it would be good for Lancer to hear another side of the story. "Sam, if you want to talk to him, go ahead, but be careful."

"I'll take her out there," Danny said, sporting his own obstinate, it's-gonna-happen-if-you-like-it- or-not look. "I can protect her in case someone tries something crazy."

Sarah nodded, a very tiny smile flickering at the sight of her two students glaring at each other, arms folded, trying to out-stubborn each other. "But Danny, if she wants to talk to her parents or go with them, let her."

Danny bit his lip to keep from laughing, and a glance back at Sam told him she was doing the same. Sam willingly go with her parents? Never gonna happen .

He gently picked up Sam under her arms and flew through the closed window, phasing them as they went. He shifted into invisibility so he could move toward the assistant principal without anyone seeing them.

Lancer looked extremely nervous. He looked back behind him at the hedge, and then, with a swallow, he moved forward toward the house. Danny settled Sam's feet on the ground next to Lancer, paused to make sure she was standing steady, and moved his hand away from her at her signal.

"Mr. Lancer?" Sam said cautiously. Lancer jumped, startled.

"_The Invisible Man_! Miss Manson, where did you come from?" Surprised into taking a step back, he nearly tripped on a flagstone.

"From inside the house," Sam smiled puckishly. More seriously, she continued, "Mr. Lancer, Miss Daily didn't put a spell on any of us. When we found out that all our parents were after her, we wanted to help her. As long as we're in the house they can't attack her. Mr. Lancer, you know we like Miss Daily. We always have. She's a great teacher and you know that. We don't care if she's a sorceress. We just want her to stay."

Lancer sighed. "I understand that Miss Manson, but unfortunately your parents don't."

"Then tell them!" Sam begged the teacher. "We'll all come out and go home willingly, but they have to promise not to chase Miss Daily out of town, and she can't lose her job, either. Everyone just has to accept her as she is."

Lancer tried to make the teen understand. "Samantha, you're asking a lot of your parents right now. Many of them are frightened. They might leave her be if she left town."

"But it's not fair, Mr. Lancer!" Sam insisted. "She saved us, and now they want to attack her?"

From the other side of the hedge Pamela Manson was suddenly heard. "Sam? Is that you sweetheart?"

Sam visibly cringed. "Um…no?" she answered lamely.

Suddenly, all the adults were at the locked gate. Apparently having learned their lesson before, everyone seemed to avoid touching it. "Sammikins! You're all right!" warbled Mrs. Manson's too sweet voice.

Sam frowned and crossed her arms across her chest. "Of course I'm all right. All of us are! We just don't want you to hurt Miss Daily! When we found out that you were going to run her out of town, we decided to protect her."

For a moment, Sam's mother got a dark and angry look, and then with a false smile she said, "Sammy, don't be silly. We'll find you a much better math teacher. You don't need a witch teaching you."

Now, Sam was angry, too. "I don't want another math teacher. I want Miss Daily. If you want me to come out you're going to have to let Miss Daily keep her job and stay in Amity Park."

"A witch teach our daughter? Don't be absurd," Sam's father said condescendingly.

Sam shook her head and turned her back to them. "In that case, we have nothing to talk about. I'll be in the house with the others when you're ready to listen to reason." She took three steps away from her parents when she felt something catch and tug on her skirt. The tug forced her backwards two feet before she felt Danny grab on to her. Whatever had a hold of her skirt loosed suddenly, and instantly she was ten feet up in the air with her arms wrapped around the hybrid. In his left hand he held the Fenton Fisher.

"That was a cheap shot," Danny said angrily to the crowd, turning visible. He tossed the Fenton Fisher down not at his father's feet, but in front of Sam's parents. Jack looked surprised and patted his belt where the Fisher usually hung. "Leave the ghost fishing to the Fentons," Danny ordered them. "They, at least, don't try to hurt anyone but the ghosts. Sam told you she'd talk to you when you are all ready to discuss this thing reasonably. That doesn't invite you to try to kidnap her!"

"I can't kidnap her! She's my daughter, you ghost!" Sam's father declared, livid that he'd been outmaneuvered . Snatching a gun from Maddie's utility belt, he fired an ectoblast directly at the specter holding his daughter. Sam screamed and buried her head in Danny's shoulder.

Danny didn't move. He didn't even flinch.

The ectoblast didn't get past the hedge. The moment it tried to cross the invisible line Sarah had set, it vanished. The air around the hedge glowed green briefly, and then the glow disappeared.

Sam's father shot three more times before Maddie could wrestle the gun away from him. Each time, the invisible shields around the property just absorbed the energy. Sam, finally realizing that the wards were not letting the energy in, lifted her head and looked first at her father, now dangling by his shirt collar at the end of Jack's very large fist, and then Danny, puzzled.

"Wards," Danny said trying hard not to laugh. He looked down at Sam's father and smirked. "Keep shooting," he taunted. "Ectoplasmic energy and magical energies are connected. Sarah used my energy to build her wards. Any ecto weapons fired on the wards just make them stronger."

"Well, my weapons aren't all ecto based." Valerie's voice was mean and cold. Three of her specially designed throwing stars came flashing past the wards.

Danny put up a quick ectoshield that deflected the weapons. "What are you two trying to do?!" Danny adjusted his position so Sam was more behind him. He glared down at the adults. "Where did you think Sam would go if you knocked me out of the air, Mr. Manson? Splat! On the ground! And what if you'd hit Sam instead of me, Valerie? Or didn't you think of that?" Danny was so angry he was nearly shaking. "Didn't you people hear her? She's here of her own free will, and so are the other kids! All they want, all Sarah wants, is to live here and work in peace!" He floated down and put Sam back on the ground next to Mr. Lancer. "It's your choice, Sam," he said loudly enough to carry to the crowd. "You can go off with your parents, or you can come back in the house with the rest of us." Consciously, he tried to relax his fists and look like he didn't care which way the decision went.

Sam looked at Danny, puzzled. Danny nodded at the crowd, and then she understood. She turned and looked at her parents while she placed her hand in Danny's. Danny smiled and lifted Sam back into the air, and then just to be dramatic, turned himself and Sam invisible in front of the crowd. Then he phased them back into the house. Once inside he dropped Sam in with the other kids. "Gonna eavesdrop," he said quickly and, invisible, shot back outside to watch the adults.

Coming soon Chapter 14 Thinking:

"Does that mean we're not going to get home for supper?" Kwan asked.

Sarah looked around at the crowd of hungry teenagers. "That I may be able to do something about. Sam, I think your friend Danny is in the kitchen. Why don't you two put together some snacks. Paulina you cook right?"

"Yeah," Paulina said uncertainly, "Why?"

"I'm going to send you and Tucker out for some groceries," Sarah said with a smile.

"Tucker?" Paulina said with a sneer.

Tucker only looked worried. "But if we go outside our parents will drag us away."

"Sarah grinned broadly. "Who said you were going shopping around here?"


	14. Chapter 14

The Seige by Kellie Fay

Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman, but we all know that already.

As always special thanks to Kidwrangler for editing.

Chapter 14: Thinking

Danny hovered, invisible, just above and outside the circle of adults. They were all discussing Sam's demand.

"Oh, honestly, it's obvious that they are under a spell," Sam's mother said. "Why else would they even consider spending time with that witch?"

Very quietly Jazz said, "A dozen pink floral dresses in Sam's closet comes to mind." Louder, the girl said, "It's obvious that they don't care that Miss Daily uses magic. All they see is the good person she is, and the great teacher. I mean when was the last time Danny got a B in math? He's not going to want to lose her."

Jazz's father looked puzzled at that. "Are you saying that they might not be under a spell? "

Jazz began to pace back and forth. "I'm just saying we should look at this logically. Sam didn't seem any different to me. She's always trying to rebel against the system, and a system that would fire a teacher just because she has magical abilities looks pretty unfair to her."

"So what should we do?" Tucker's mother asked.

"Talk to Miss Daily reasonably!" Jazz said, frustrated that she had to spell it out. "Let her go back to work, and she'll probably promise never to use magic on people, as long as they don't attack her first."

"A witch work in my school? Never!" Principal Ishyama said forcefully.

"It seems that the children share a different opinion," Mr Lancer insisted, exiting the front yard.

"We have to find a way to get them out of there!" Danny's father said firmly. Danny knew that tone. Normally his father seemed to be one of the biggest and most embarrassing goofs in the entire town, but when he felt that anyone in the family was in danger he would transform into this frightfully competent ghost hunter. Danny knew he would have to stay invisible and protect the other kids, but first there was one more thing he had to do.

Danny hovered near Jazz, dropping the temperature near her. Her head carefully went up on alert, realizing what the cool feeling meant. Only then when he knew she sensed him did he place his hands on her shoulders and whisper, "Just say the word Jazz and I'll bring you inside with the others."

Jazz instantly moved to the back of the crowd, and whispered back, "No Danny. I'll do more good out here making the adults think. I'll be fine you just take care of Miss Daily."

Danny sighed, but he knew that Jazz was right. "Okay," he said cautiously. "But if you change your mind just say the word."

"I will," Jazz assured him, patting his hand on her shoulder. Then she gently pushed his hand away and went to join the other adults.

The conversation had deteriorated to the point where again the parents were trying to find ways to get past the magical hedge. With a heavy sigh Danny flew back into the house, where everyone was eagerly waiting for him. Sarah looked up at him even before he turned visible. Danny suspected that Sarah had used her magic to watch him among the adults. "You heard most of that?" he asked.

Sarah nodded. "Nothing that I didn't expect."

Starr looked up sadly. "Does that mean that we can't go home?"

_Damn, they're already forgetting why they came here,_ Danny thought sadly. More sharply than he intended he said, "You can go home now if you want. All of you! We didn't ask you to come here! I can protect Sarah fine on my own. I thought you said you wanted to help her." Danny might have gone on, but Sarah put her hand on his shoulder silencing him.

"You can go if you want to," Sarah said calmly. "I'm not keeping you here against your will. It was your choice to come here, and it's your choice if you want to leave."

"I'm staying!" Sam said firmly, folding her arms across her chest. "Firing you, and throwing you out of town because you use magic is ignorant and bigoted."

"I'm staying too," Tucker added.

"I'll do whatever _you_ want!" Paulina said, addressing Danny.

Star simply looked out the window. "I don't want our parents to run you out of town, Miss Daily. Why are they being so stupid about you?"

Sarah sighed and shrugged. "People fear what they don't understand. Most people don't believe in magic because they don't understand it, and when they can't ignore it anymore they fear it. That's why I don't tell people I work magic."

"Does that mean we're not going to get home for supper?" Kwan asked slowly, frowning a little.

Sarah looked around at the crowd of hungry teenagers. "I may be able to do something about that. Sam, I think your friend Danny is in the kitchen. Why don't you two put together some snacks. Paulina you cook right?"

"Yeah," Paulina said uncertainly. "Why?"

"I'm going to send you and Tucker out for some groceries," Sarah said with a smile.

"Tucker?" Paulina said with a sneer.

Tucker only looked worried. "But if we go outside our parents will drag us away."

"Sarah grinned broadly. "Who said you were going shopping around here?"

Danny grinned at Sam, and vanished before her eyes. Most of the other kids didn't notice, their attention on Miss Daily. Sam quietly slipped inside the kitchen where Danny, in his human form, was climbing up on a step ladder to pull down Miss Daily's cookie jars.

"You should have done that before you changed," Sam said with a chuckle. She began to go through the refrigerator to look for fruit and vegetables.

Danny shrugged. "Someone else might have caught me." He stepped down carefully, hugging the jars to his chest. "I don't mind. Sarah's snacks are usually easy to reach." Together they popped some popcorn and brought the snacks out to the group. Danny managed to hang on to five of Miss Daily's chocolate chip cookies for Tucker.

They found Tucker with a shopping list, talking to Miss Daily. Paulina was nearby with a scowl on her face. "Humph! Why do I have to take her?" Paulina sniped, glaring at Sam.

"Wait! I'm going with her?" Sam asked, not sounding too thrilled herself.

"Sam is a vegan," Sarah said evenly, as if she wasn't putting two deadly enemies together. "I want to make sure that whatever you decide to get, she'll be willing to eat. It's only polite. I don't eat meat, but I wouldn't stop you guys from eating it. That's why Tucker is going to get some chop meat to make hamburgers. You and Sam are getting the vegetables."

"But where are you sending us?" Paulina asked Miss Daily

"To a friend of mine," Sarah said. "He'll be able to help you find what you're looking for." Miss Daily tapped the mirror a few more times and muttered something under her breath. "Ready to go Tucker?"

Tucker looked at the image that now showed in the glowing mirror. "Hayden Family Ranch, Texas?" He looked back at Miss Daily, puzzled.

"Where else to get stuff to barbeque?" she asked with a smile. "Off you go now."

With a nod, Tucker took a deep breath and jumped through the mirror. For a second Sam saw Tucker moving in the image, then the scene changed to what seemed to be a garden.

"I don't know about this, Miss Daily," Paulina said, as she eyed the mirror warily. "Is it safe?"

"What's the matter Paulina?" Sam asked with a wicked grin. "Don't you trust Miss Daily?"

"Well yeah," Paulina said, not sounding very convinced. "But what if this bleaches my hair?" She fluffed out a bit of her straight, dark hair, and eyed it with concern.

"Oh come on!" With an exasperated sigh, Sam grabbed Paulina's hand and pulled her through the mirror.


	15. Chapter 15

Authors note: Yes I'm still trying to rewrite the parts I've lost. But being a teacher is time consuming and exhausting. I haven't had a lot of time or energy to write much. I promise I won't post anything else until this is done. The parts I'm missing are the ones that gave me trouble the last time.

As always Danny Phantom doesn't belong to me. If he didn't I wouldn't have to teach for a living.

*Chapter 15 Field Trip

"Oh come on!" With an exasperated sigh Sam grabbed Paulina's hand, and pulled her through the mirror. A split second later she and Paulina landed on a marble tiled floor. To their left stood an iron and glass breakfast table accompanied by two matching chairs. In a far corner rested a series of terra cotta planters with flowers and trees arranged as a miniature garden. To the left of the planters a stone fountain filled the air with a cool crisp mist and the scent of the earth and rain. To Sam's right she saw a trellis completely covered with green grapes.

Sam looked behind her, and saw a huge mirror with a gilded frame that nearly covered the entire wall. From her left she heard Paulina ask in a small voice "so where did Miss Daily send us?"

"I'm not sure," Sam said uneasily. She looked at the list again. "She didn't write our shopping list in English, but it doesn't look like Spanish either."

"Lemme see," Paulina said snatching the list from Sam's hand.

"Hey!" Sam said indignantly.

Paulina ignored her as she scanned the list. "Nope, it's not Spanish," She said thoughtfully. "But it's close."

"If your list is for me to read giovane it is most likely Itallian," a strange male voice said. Sam and Paulina spun around to see an elderly gentleman with salt and pepper hair dressed in a dark grey suit.

"Oh!" Sam said startled. "I am so sorry sir. We were told -"

"It is all right my dear, quite all right," the man hasten to reassure them. "I am Antonio. I help those who work with sorcery find rare herbs and ancient talismans."

Paulina looked at Antonio confused. "Talismans? herbs? I thought Miss Daily sent us here to shop for dinner."

Recognition flashed in the old man's eyes. "Ahh so it is Signora Sarah, who has sent you. Come let me see your list."

Paulina looked at Sam, who shrugged and nodded. Paulina handed Antonio the list. Reading the list a smile broke across his face. "I believe I can help you. Come."

Antonio led both girls out to an open air market. There both Sam and Paulina were amazed at the array of fresh produce.

At first Paulina payed attention to what Sam was asking their guide about the different fruits and vegetables, but eventually her attention waned, and she began to look around. A huge structure several blocks away caught her attention. "Ugh when is your town gonna get rid of that ugly wrecked building?" She asked.

Sam turned to see a huge ruin rising up out of the ground. "Oh my gosh!" She exclaimed shocked. "Paulina that's the Coliseum! We're in Rome?"

"Rome?" Paulina echoed confused.

"As in Italy!" Sam snapped.

Now Paulina seemed to get it. "We're in Italy?" When Sam nodded Paulina said, "Wow, Miss Daily sure knows how to shop. I wonder if she comes here for her shoes?"

"Who knows?" Sam said thoughtfully. "It looks like she can go most anywhere she wants, but we're here for food not fashions." Sam then smiled evilly. "And if we're in Italy there is one thing that we're going to have to get."

"What's that?" Paulina asked.

"Pasta!"

In the end the girls both decided on getting ingredients for a pasta primavera and an eggplant parmigiana, and to acknowledge Tucker, ingredients for a lasagna.

"Are you serious?" Paulina asked as Antonio led them to a fresh pasta shop, "Tucker doesn't eat vegetables at all?"

"Not to my knowledge, " Sam said, leaving out the one time he did eat plants to save Danny's life. "He's a complete carnivore,"

"That's weird," Paulina said. Then with a glare at Sam, "Not that being a vegetarian isn't just as weird,"

"It's not weird," Sam insisted. "It's a choice. I don't eat animals. Neither does Miss Daily, but she'll eat eggs and milk. She believes their gifts from the animals, or at least she tells me the animals feel like better the eggs than them."

"Miss Daily talks to animals?" Paulina asked.

"Not exactly," Sam explained then looked up at their host. "Oh yes Antonio, penne, linguini, and lasagna noodles please." Turning her attention back to Paulina she said, "Miss Daily told me that she gets a general feeling or emotions around animals. Plus many cultures claim that animals have spirits. With the kind of sorcery Miss Daily uses she can't afford to offend animal spirits by eating them."

"Well I guess that makes sense," Paulina said than more puzzled. "Wait, you know about Miss Daily's powers before today?"

Sam glad to have one over on Paulina grinned. "I caught her using her powers about a month ago. I wasn't about to tell on her. I think it's cool."

"I don't know how cool it is," Paulina said warily, "But the ghost boy seems to like her, so she must be okay."

"Trust me Miss Daily is totally cool," Sam told the girl. "I mean we're shopping for Dinner in Italy! How cool is that."

"True," Paulina said. "Hey I wonder if Miss Daily can take us clothes shopping in Paris?"

Sam wondered too. "You know Mr Lancer knows about Miss Daily's magic. Maybe He'll let us take some real field trips. Can you imagine Stonehenge in England!"

"Hawaii!" Paulina shot back.

"Romania" Sam answered.

"Aruba!" Paulina countered.

"Egypt!" Sam said, then she thought about that one.

"No not Egypt" Both girls said hastily.

Sam gave Paulina an odd glance. She wasn't supposed to remember the ghost zones version of Egypt that Tucker unwittingly took them too.

"Why'd you change your mind?" Paulina asked.

"Rotten memories," Sam said, then curious, "What about you?"

"Old nightmare," Paulina said with a shudder.

_So maybe Paulina does remember something about Tucker_ Sam thought. Out loud she said, "How about Cozumel? It has beaches for you and ruins for me?"

"Cozumel?" Paulina though a moment. "That's cool." Then she giggled. "You know this is probably the first time we've ever agreed on anything.

"That's probably because Miss Daily has spells of peace on her house. I know she has them on

the classroom. It keeps students from fighting."

"She does?" Paulina asked worriedly.

"It only make sense," Sam told her "If I were a teacher I'd want spells like that on my classroom."

Paulina paused thinking. "Wait is that why your friend Danny always runs to Miss Daily's room when Dash chases him?"

Sam smiles. "Yep, he knows that nine times out of ten Dash will get distracted before he gets to Danny, or one of them will suddenly run into Miss Daily. "

Paulina's smile grew more feral. "Danny's got a crush on Miss Daily, doesn't he?"

Sam took in a deep breath and tried to ignore the jab. "Him and every other boy now passing math," Sam reminded her. She didn't like where this conversation was going. "I do think they pay more attention to her in class cuz she's pretty, but I love her style."

"She doesn't wear black," Paulina reminded her.

"But she doesn't wear pink either," Sam answered. "Miss Daily wears earth colors mostly, blues, greens and browns. She says that earth colors have good energies. Miss Daily has her own style and it suits her."

She and Paulina were just about finished with shopping. They returned with Antonio to the villa with baskets full of fresh pasta, and vegetables.

"One thing more, My friends a special gift for you and my friend Signora Sarah." He handed Paulina several large wheels of cheese with two small samples for her to taste. Paulina didn't know weather to be more thrilled with the Asiago cheese or the ultra fresh mozzarella. Before Sam could laugh at Paulina's look of pleasure Antonio presented Sam with fresh marinated black and green olives. When Sam popped the green olive into her mouth she knew that her expression matched Paulina's.

"Antonio we can't thank you enough, Sam said after she finished the second olive.

"It is no trouble signora Antonio said with a smile. I know Signora Sarah will be very grateful. I shall hear from her later. Choi!"

"Choi!" Sam said cheerfully. With their arms full of packages Sam and Paulina jumped back through the mirror back into Miss Daily's house.

The first thing Sam saw coming out of the mirror was Danny as Fenton stretched out by the fireplace munching a hamburger in one hand and writing something with his other hand. When he saw the two girls laden with packages he finished his burger and rushed to help both of them.

"Man what did you two do buy the whole store?" Danny asked.

Sam smiled warmly. "Hey when in Rome," She said with a grin. "How could we pass up fresh Itallian pasta?"

"Rome? Danny said following the girls into the kitchen, "Itallian pasta?"

"Miss Daily sent us to Italy," Sam explained. "Her contact was really cool he got us everything on our list and then some extras." At that moment Sam pulled The olives out of the bag.

"Did Tucker bring any chop meat bac from that ranch he went to?" Paulina asked Danny.

A little surprised Danny answered "Uh yeah we're making burgers out of it."

"Better make sure he doesn't use all of it," Sam said. Paulina nodded and ran off when Danny looked at Sam in shock she said, "What we got stuff to make a meat lasagna for you guys. I'm having pasta primavera and eggplant rolls, and we're making linguini with olive oil and garlic."

"Sounds good," Danny said. "I'm sure Miss Daily will approve, as do I."

Paulina came back into the room rolling her eyes at Danny, "Yeah like we need your approval for anything here loser. Now get out of the kitchen."

Danny just chuckled and did as he was told. Outside, he found Miss Daily supervising Tucker at the grill. His teacher gave him a side long glance and a sly smile.

Very quietly Danny answered the unanswered question. "Yes I could transform and get Paulina to do whatever I wanted, but to her it wouldn't be me, and it would get Sam annoyed anyway. I don't need to get my Ego inflated right now."

_Now that's the child of power I became a guardian to_ Miss Daily thought at him.

Danny smiled at the praise letting his attention drift out to the front of the house

"Thinking about Jazz?" Miss Daily asked. When Danny nodded she asked, "Any particular reason?"

Danny puzzled over Sarah's question for a moment. "Should there be?"

Without speaking out loud Sarah said _Spirits often have mild empathic connections to those they were emotionally or biologically close to?_

_So if something is wrong with Jazz I'll feel it?_

"Possibly," Sarah said quietly.

"Then maybe I'd better check on her" Danny said worriedly. He turned to go back into the house to find a quiet place to go ghost, when Sarah placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Hang on Danny. I have an idea."

* * *

Next up! (And I hope it's soon) Chapter 16 a problem:

Danny snorted and rolled his eyes. "Mrs Fenton your son does not need rescuing, nor does he want rescuing. What he wants is for you and your mom to leave his math teacher alone!

Jack glared at Danny angrily. "Like we'd believe you ghost!"

Danny couldn't help but smirk at the irony. "I could arrange for your son to come out here, and tell you himself, but I guarantee you the conversation will be exactly the same as the one we're having now.

Jazz suppressed a giggle. Danny couldn't blame her.

"And again all we have is your word on that ghost," A new voice said. From behind the adults Vlad Masters stepped forward.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16 of the Siege

By Kellie Fay

Hi All. Yes I'm still alive and I'm still trying to refinish The Siege. School has been tough for the last two years, but I'm looking forward to Summer break and I'm trying to re-feed some of my DP creativity demons. Thanks for your patience updates will still be erratic.

Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman. If he belonged to me I wouldn't need to work for a living.

Chapter 16

A Complication

Jazz sat by herself in the back of the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle, and watched the monitor. One smart thing her parents did was send up a Fenton Probe. They could see clearly through the windows, and they could see and hear everything in the backyard. At first most of the students milled around looking unhappy, but all the conversations were about how worried they were for Miss Daily, and why couldn't their parents just leave her alone. Some time after there appeared to be some excitement over Tucker and dinner. Once Tucker appeared with wrapped packages of hamburgers and steaks. He and Dash began to grill under Miss Daily's supervision. Later out of the house Sam Paulina and Danny appeared carrying trays of more food. Delicious smells radiated from the entire back yard.

Jazz sighed, and glared at her Nasty Burger. Dash's father went over to buy when people began to get hungry, but compared to what the kids were getting Jazz wondered if maybe she shouldn't have taken Danny's earlier offer. Sam's parents were certainly eating better than that. They called their butler to bring over only enough dinner for the two of them.

"So how are they?" A voice asked from the door. Jazz turned around to see Dash's father standing in the entrance to the RV.

"They're fine," Jazz said pushing her burger away. "And having a better dinner than we are."

Dash's father came closer, and peered over Jazz's shoulder into the screen. "Man I would love to know where Daily gets her groceries from. Whatever they're cooking smells fantastic. Hey is that Dash?"

Jazz peered closer. "Yeah I think it is. It looks like he's talking to Miss Daily. Wait, I'll move the probe, and turn up the sound." Jazz fiddled with the controls and quickly Dash's and Miss Daily's voices could clearly be heard.

"Gee Miss Daily this is so cool! Can your mirrors like go anywhere?"

"Anywhere I can link them too," She answered with a smile.

Dash looked puzzled. "Link?"

Miss Daily explained. "I either need to know about the mirrors elsewhere, and can find them using a spell or I need a person who knows where the mirror is and can see the room in their mind."

"Oh," Dash answered he sounded a bit confused. "So do you have one of those link things to New York City?"

Miss Daily gave Dash a confused but intrigued smile. "Do you have something in mind?" She asked.

Dash looked slightly uncomfortable. "Yeah well one time we went to meet my uncle in New York. He got this wicked cheesecake from some place in Brooklyn called Juniors, and I was wondering..." He trailed off uncertain.

Miss Daily laughed. "You were wondering if we could get some dessert? As it happens I do have a contact in Brooklyn quite close to Juniors, and their cheesecake is good."

Dash smiled instantly. "Does that mean?"

"Go get Kwan," Miss Daily said. "I'll get some cash and I'll meet you by the mirror in my den." Eagerly Dash ran off to find his friend.

Dash's father sighed pensively. "If that woman can get my son Junior's Cheesecake, she doesn't need magic spells to make him like her."

"That's what I keep telling everyone," Jazz said with a sigh. "Miss Daily isn't controlling them. They just think she's cool. They want to help her."

Dash's father digested this slowly. "Then how are we going to convince them to come out?"

Jazz knew the simplest answer to that, but she also knew that the parents weren't ready to hear it yet.

An hour later Jazz felt a cool touch on her shoulder. "Back here," She heard her brother whisper. Jazz allowed Danny to guide her to an area out of site of the adults. Only then did he appear carrying a covered plate with a small pastry box balanced on top.

Even though the cover on the plate Jazz could smell something intriguing. Jazz took the plate and handed the cover to her brother. On the plate rested a huge juicy hamburger, a pasta and vegetable dish and some eggplant rolls. Without a moment's hesitation Jazz picked up a fork and began eating.

"Thanks Danny," Jazz said between bites. "What's in the box?"

Danny grinned. "Believe it or not dessert, he chuckled. "Dash knew about some place in New York City of all places where they had great cheesecake. So Sarah sent them to get some. Tucker had three slices plus dinner.

Curious Jazz put down her fork and looked into the box. "That's half a cheesecake," she said.

"Yeah," Danny said with a shrug. "Tuck figured that you might want to share it with Lancer since he's trying to help us." Then with a chuckle he said, "Maybe if you share some with Dad he won't think Sarah is so bad."

At the mention of their father Jazz sighed sadly. "Danny he's frightened, him and mom. All the parents are. They don't understand why all of you like her despite her powers."

"Jazz you know why!" Danny said sternly.

"I know," Jazz admitted, "And I do understand, but like I said, they're scared and –

"Get away from my daughter you ectoplasmic terror!" Danny and Jazz both snapped around at the sound of their father's voice. The moment Jazz heard the familiar sound of a ghost weapon she grabbed her brother's hand and pulled him down behind her.

Dad, No!" Jazz said, "Danny gave Phantom a message for me!"

Maddie lowered the Fenton Bazooka slowly but she didn't drop her guard. "Danny? Is he okay? How can we rescue him?"

Danny snorted and rolled his eyes. "Mrs Fenton your son does not need rescuing, nor does he want rescuing. What he wants is for you and all of you to leave his math teacher alone!"

Jack glared at Danny angrily. "Like we'd believe you ghost!"

Danny couldn't help but smirk at the irony. "I could arrange for your son to come out here, and tell you himself, but I guarantee you the conversation will be exactly the same as the one we're having now.

Jazz suppressed a giggle. Danny couldn't blame her.

"And again all we have is your word on that ghost," A new voice said. From behind the adults Vlad Masters stepped forward.

Danny suppressed his own anger and frustration watching his arch enemy take over. "Of course if this woman can manipulate the children into protecting her she can make them believe anything at all." Vlad continued adjusting his vest.

Forcing himself to keep his temper, Danny shot back, "And I know some humans who can do that without magic. Go away Mayor Masters your not helping anything."

Of course Danny's father had a different opinion. "Vladdy! You're here! Now we'll get that witch out of our town no sweat!"

Frustrated and angry Danny snapped back at his father. "How many times do I have to tell you people Sarah is NOT A WITCH!"

Then something happened that cooled Danny's temper instantly. A hunted frightened look filled Vlad's eyes, and he gasped out. "No not Sarah Daily!"

"Yes, that's her name," Tucker's father said from the group.

"You know her?" Maddie asked surprised.

Vlad ever one to play up to Maddie made an effort to look dramatically distressed. "I'm afraid I've only heard stories and rumors concerning Sarah Daily, but what I have heard fills me with dread. It is said that she is very powerful and very dangerous.

Sarah always told Danny never to deny something true even when it put him in a bad light so he looked Vlad right in the eye and said, "Powerful? Yeah Sarah's powerful. She has to be to protect her math class, and I won't deny that she can be dangerous, just like a mother when she's protecting her children." Here he looked at Maddie hard. "But there is one thing that Sarah's not and that's evil. She protects those who have nowhere else to go, and no one they can trust. That's why I help Sarah because she's the only adult in Amity Park who treats me like a thinking feeling being."

To Danny's surprise Some of the parents looked thoughtful. He wondered if some of what he said finally got through. Yes! We have finally achieved breakthrough!

Vlad looked furious that Danny seemed to be getting his point across. "Well I'm sure it seems that way to you, but as Mayor of this town I - "

Suddenly Danny sensed an odd combination of fear and worry plus a distinct mental pull that told him to return to the house. Forgetting Vlad Danny rose a foot into the air and turned toward the house. "Something's wrong," he said absently. "I have to go back,"

"What's wrong?" Jazz asked worried.

Jazz's voice managed to keep Danny where he was despite the insistent worried tug in his mind. At the same time Danny heard Sam's voice along with that incessant pull in his mind. Danny come back we need you.

"Sam,' Danny said softly looking at the house. "Sam is calling me, I have to go back."

That got the attention of Sam's parents. "You can hear our Sammy?"

Forgetting himself for a moment, torn between here and the house Danny said softly. "Sarah gave Sam a ward to protect me. With it she can keep evil forces from my mind, and she can use the gem to call me."

Danny the call came again. Danny couldn't stop himself from drifting closer to the house the pull to leave growing stronger by the second. "I have to go," he said again then he gave himself over to the summons and flew to the house.

Once he phased inside he felt the compulsion ease up but it didn't vanish completely until he saw Sam.

"Sam, what's the big idea? You never call me like that."

Sam flushed angry and embarrassed, but Danny could tell immediately that something was wrong. Dash and Kwan were flanking Sam with the rest of the kids muddling around behind them.

"Miss Daily just ordered everyone back into the house," Dash exclaimed drawing Danny's attention away from Sam. "Then she went outside and she started glowing."

Now Danny realized why Sam risked summoning him. The other kids were no doubt frighted at Sarah's behavior. Danny closed his eyes and directed his attention to the backyard and listened with every ounce of his ectoplasm. "Sarah's angry," Danny said still listening. "She's gathering power right now. I think she's expecting a fight." Danny sighed. "One of my enemies just showed up, and I think she's reacting to that."

"One of your enemies?" Sam asked sounding surprised that it was only one. Danny suppressed a smile at Sam's sarcasm.

Tucker answer forced Danny's smile out. "Which one?"

"He has that many enemies?" Paulina whispered to Star?

"One of the bad ones," Danny said, becoming serious once more. "The one who wants me to be like him."

"There's two of those," Sam reminded him.

Danny elaborated. "The one who doesn't exist outside of his own time."

"Ahh," Both Tucker and Sam relaxed.

"I'd better go see if I can calm Sarah down," he told them. He phased through the back wall into the backyard.

Coming Soon (I hope)

Chapter 17 A Reunion

Sarah opened her mouth to answer him, when an Angry contemptuous voice said, "So it's true. The guardian council handed him over to you. They must be losing their touch. I can't imagine anyone sane placing the boy in your care."

Still past the boundaries of the hedge floated Vlad in his ghost form looking very angry, and maybe to Danny just a little bit nervous.

"I don't think you can imagine anyone sane period Vlad," Sarah said obviously angry. "Or maybe they thought it justice to place me forever between you and Danny."

"Is it justice that motivates you my dear:? Or Vengeance?" Vlad taunted her.


	17. Chapter 17

The Seige

By Kellie Fay

Yes still trying, gonna slow up the next chapter is being rewritten. Reviews make the insecure author feel better.

Oh and Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman. *sigh*

Chapter 17

A Reunion

Sarah stood in the center of her magic circle drawing power up from deep within the earth. Her yes were tightly shut with tears leaking out. Her fists were tightly clenched and trembled, yet her voice sounded steadily chanting her spell. When she stopped she wiped her eyes and looked at Danny guiltily.

"It's Vlad, isn't it?" Danny asked quietly.

Sarah sighed. "You know something in your life is eventually going to happen. You train and prepare for it for years, but when it actually happens you're not really ready for it, and it never happens the way you imagine it."

Danny could understand what Sarah meant. He often envisioned himself telling his parents the truth about his ghost powers. When Freakshow exposed him to the whole world it wasn't how he planned to tell his parents, of course it all worked out, but something told Danny that this wasn't going to be a positive experience for Sara. "Did...did you know Vlad back when he had a guardian?" He asked quietly.

"I was only a child back then," Sarah said softly. "Not much older than you. It's funny how these things worked out."

Danny tried to figure our what Sarah meant by that. "I don't understand," he said.

Sarah opened her mouth to answer him, when an angry contemptuous voice said, "So it's true. The guardian council handed him over to you. They must be losing their touch. I can't imagine anyone sane placing the boy in your care."

Still past the boundaries of the hedge floated Vlad in his ghost form looking very angry, and maybe to Danny just a little bit nervous.

"I don't think you can imagine anyone sane period Vlad," Sarah said obviously angry. "Or maybe they thought it justice to place me forever between you and Danny."

"Is it justice that motivates you my dear:? Or Vengeance?" Vlad taunted her.

Sarah clenched her fists, and Danny watched her desperately try to control her breathing. "You never understood the guardianship did you Vlad? I'm Danny's guardian now. He's the only priority in my life now, and I refuse to teach him vengeance!"

Vlad smiled cruelly. "You refuse? Did you make one of those foolish vows preventing you from fulfilling your dreams of vengeance?"

"If I spend my life keeping Danny from turning into your apprentice, that will be vengeance enough." Sarah said firmly. "Remember Vlad the universe has a sense of humor. Your own actions will bring about your downfall."

"Do you really believe that?" Vlad asked contemptuously.

Sarah now growled at him. She clenched her fist, which held the power she gathered, and chanted,

"_You who bring pain to others will suffer pain_

_You who bring tears to others will cry as well_

_The evil you wrought, will bring the justice she sought _

_And the deeds of your own hands will bring about your downfall!"_

Sarah flung the energy right at Vlad who winced terrified, but when nothing happened he laughed. "I guess you simply don't have the power your mother had dear. You certainly don't have her looks."

Danny couldn't stand it any more. He charged up an ectoblast, and shot it at Vlad. "Get out of here Vlad! NOW!"

Vlad floated further back, but before he vanished he said, "You'll see Daniel, she will betray you just like all of their kind!" With that he teleported away.

"Hmph, Good riddance," Danny muttered. He then turned to Sarah. She tried to wipe the offending tears away from her eyes. Sympathetically, Danny offered his hands to her. "Come on," he said gently. "I'll take you to your room. I don't think you want the others to see you like that."

That got him a smile. "Thank you Danny," Sarah said. She placed her hands in his, and allowed him to float her up to her room.

Once inside Sarah moved to her bathroom, and washed her face. Danny waited patently. When she finished he asked. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Sarah sighed looking at the huge mirror in her room. "I can't, Danny."

For a moment a few things Vlad said filtered through his mind.

_Did you make one of those foolish vows preventing you from fulfilling your dreams of vengeance?_

_I guess you simply don't have the power your mother had dear._

_You'll see Daniel, she will betray you just like all of their kind!_

"Is this like a guardian thing?" He asked.

"Sort of," Sarah said. Danny could hear her exhaustion, and unhappiness and he didn't know what to do about it.

Suddenly a knock at the door made them both start. Danny looked at Sarah who nodded. Danny opened the door.

Star, Kwan, Dash, And Mickey all stood in the Doorway looking questioningly at their teacher.

When they eyed Danny unwilling to move past him, Danny floated backwards giving them the room they needed. "Miss Daily," Star said quietly"

"I'm sorry Star. I just had a bad reunion," Miss Daily said. "What do you need?"

Star looked back at the boys unwilling to go on, but Dash nudged her. "Miss Daily, if you did that memory spell thing on our parents everything would go back to normal wouldn't it."

Sarah smiled gently. "I don't know about everything Star, but at least we wouldn't be under siege here, and my other problems would get smaller."

"Like that other ghost you were angry with outside," Dash said. "We saw some of that, but Manson made us stay away from the windows."

"They were trying to protect you," Danny said. "That particular ghost is very dangerous. The only thing that protected us now is Sarah and that hedge outside."

"Yeah, we figured that," Kwan said uneasily. "That's why the four of us decided well we decided..."

"You wouldn't have to worry about things if our parents didn't hate you anymore," Dash said quickly. "And if you did that memory thing, they wouldn't hate you."

Sarah looked down at the group analyzing their request. "You're sure you don't mind?" Sarah asked. "You'll still have to help me with that spell."

Star and the others nodded. "We understand Miss Daily. We just want this over and done with." She said.

Sarah nodded. "In that case Danny could you run an errand for me?" She asked. "You need to visit my mentor Melkior, and get the right spell book from him."

"Through there?" Danny asked, indicating the mirror with his thumb. When Sarah nodded he said. "Will do," He floated back away from the mirror allowing Sarah to open the porthole.

Sara gently took Danny's hand in her own, then placed her hand onto the mirror. Very softly she chanted.

_Mirror with it's ebb and flow_

_Take him where he needs to go. _

The reflection in the mirror warped and shifted until Danny saw somebody's study with a desk and filled with bookcases. "I'll be right back," Danny said resting his hand momentarily on Sarah's shoulder and giving a gentle squeeze. Then he flew inside the mirror without a second thought.

Next Chapter 18

Danny found himself in a large cross between a library and a study. Bookshelves filled

with books lined the two parallel facing walls. Behind-him Danny saw the large gilded

framed mirror, and A medieval style tapestry. In front of Danny a large oak desk sat

with a red leather chair behind it. Framed by a large picture window. To the left of the

desk sat a shining bronze armillary sphere, showing the ancient geocentric universe

that Danny once saw in the planetarium. To the right of the desk a black leather book

that matched him in height sat opened on a simple wood pedestal.

Danny couldn't resist the temptation. He floated over to the metallic sculpture, and ran

his fingertips over the smooth green metal. Suddenly Danny heard a sound of someone

moving behind him. Reacting without thinking Danny instantly turned intangible, and

watched a girl with silvery blue hair dressed in a black halter top and red skirt with what

looked like a broomstick pass through him.

With a flurry of blue and silver tails the girl spun around and spun her staff in her hands.

" Intruder!" she shouted with a growl. She tried to advance on Danny again.

"No wait!" Danny said staying intangible. He floated up to the ceiling in an effort to

escape his attacker.

Astonished the girl shouted "Akuryo!" drawing three other strangers into the room.


	18. Chapter 18

The Siege:

By Kellie Fay

Disclaimer: Yes we know Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman. *sigh*

Authors Note: I'm still alive, I now have time, and a computer, but no internet access. I am working on it. Hopefully by the end of summer I'll be done with this.

Reviews make an insecure author very happy.

Chapter 18

Revelations

Danny found himself in a large cross between a library and a study. Bookshelves filled with books lined the two parallel facing walls. Behind him Danny saw the large gilded framed mirror, and a medieval style tapestry. In front of Danny a large oak desk sat with a red leather chair behind it. The desk and chair were framed by a large picture window showing gardens and either a very large pond or a very small lake surrounded by grass and bushes. To the left of the desk sat a shining bronze armillary sphere showing the ancient geocentric universe that Danny once saw in the planetarium. To the right of the desk a black leather book that matched him in height, and hummed with magical energies, sat opened on a simple wood pedestal.

Danny couldn't resist the temptation. He floated over to the metallic sculpture, and ran his fingertips over the smooth green metal. Suddenly Danny heard a sound of someone moving behind him. Reacting without thinking Danny instantly turned intangible, and watched a girl with silvery blue hair dressed in a black halter top and red skirt with what looked like a broomstick pass through him. With a flurry of blue and silver tails the girl spun around, and spun her staff in her hands.

" Intruder!" she shouted with a growl. She tried to advance on Danny again.

"No wait!" Danny said staying intangible. He floated up to the ceiling in an effort to escape his attacker.

Astonished the girl shouted "Akuryo!" drawing three other strangers into the room. A tall young man, and a girl about Jazz's age came into the room flanked by a smaller boy of about ten.

"Kira stand down!" The young man ordered. "He's not an intruder!"

The girl looked at Danny then at the trio. "Chase, no! He is Akuryo!"

The younger boy, with a strange greenish tint to his light blond hair, shook his head gently. " No Kira, he's the one Sarah got assigned to. We've been watching him in the mirrors for months."

Now Danny got a good look at the group. The older boy looked about eighteen. He had sandy blond hair, and dressed in a simple white T-shirt with blue sweat pants and a black hoodie with the guardianship symbol, a mobius strip in an infinity shape, in red on the left pocket. The younger boy defiantly had a green tint to his hair. He wore a transformers T-shirt and deep green sweat pants. He eyed Danny with a curious interest, but Danny's full attention fell on the two girls.

Or the one girl and the one...well Danny didn't know what she was, only that he never saw anything like her inside or out of the ghost zone. She stood equal to the older boy in height. Her clothing looked ordinary enough, but the halter and skirt looked a little risque to him. What floored Danny were the pair of blue and silver pointed furry ears that poked out of her equally blue hair, and the seven sliver blue fox tails that flared out behind her like a peacock's fan. Strangely enough the human looking girl captured Danny's attention even more. Thick waist length black hair tied into a tail behind her. She wore a tight deep red midriff shirt showing off a perfectly smooth and flat belly complete with a belly button piercing. To complete the image she had on a pair of tight black denim shorts, with red high top sneakers that matched her top. He didn't know why but this girl seemed to him far more fascinating and captivating than the girl withthe pointed ears and tails. " Hi," he said softly waving.

The younger boy blew a strand of hair out of his face and glared at the girl. " Knock it off Astra. He's already forgotten about Kira, and he's gonna forget his name and why he came here if you don't tone it down."

The girl looked at the boy quizzically, then turned her attention back to Danny. "Oh he's at that age," she said with a chuckle. "I'd better be the one who goes gets Melkior then." She moved towards the large wooden double doors next to the mirror, and made one half turn to look back at Danny. "Nice to meet you Danny," she said then slipped out the door leaving Danny feeling vaguely disappointed.

The girl with the fox tails rolled her eyes, and said something in a language Danny didn't understand making the two boys smirk. "If that's what I have to look forward to in a few years, I may ask Melkior to foster me out when I'm older," the boy with green hair said with a giggle.

"It's not so bad if your used to her,". The older boy said with a grin. "but it might be a good idea when your going through that delicate stage of puberty. Our new friend here had no clue how to deal with what Astra was putting out.". He then turned back to Danny. "I am right aren't I" he asked with a smile. "You're Danny Phantom, Sarah's new client."

Danny gave his head a quick shake to clear it. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt like that day at school when he asked Paulina to the dance, and he suddenly went intangible allowing his pants to fall down. He felt like he should be embarrassed , but the expressions on the two other boys somehow made him feel better. Somehow he knew that they understood how he felt. "Uh Yeah that's me,". He said still a little bewildered. " what just happened?"

The older boy chuckled. "You my young friend just got an hefty dose of a siren's energy. I'm used to her, and Stevie is too young, but- "

Danny sighed. "Lemme guess fifteen is a really bad time to be exposed to a siren." He said, then thought to himself, _and that explains sooooo much about Ember and __school. _

"Bingo,". The older boy said. "I'm Chase, by the way, Chase Manning, and this is Stevieand Kira."

Feeling a little awkward, Danny waved to them. "Hi," he said. Then staring at the blue haired girl he asked, "do I want to know about the ears and tails?"

"Kira is a kitsune," a new voice said. Danny turned to see a middle aged gentleman with dark brown hair, fading to grey wearing a brown tweed suit. He took off his jacket and undid his top button. Chase raised his right hand, and a plush golden brown velvet robe flew from it's place on the coat rack to the newcomer's hands. He then raised his jacket into the air, and it flew out of his grasp to the coat rack. "Thank you Chase,"he said putting on the robe. "In short she is a fox spirit from Japan. One of my former fosters found her being pursued by a hoard of oni, rescued her, and brought her herewhere she can heal and grow in safety."

Danny instantly liked this man. While worldly and all knowing like Lancer, he also had a gentle quality to him that told Danny that he understood children in a way Lancer never could. "Melkior, I presume?"

Melkior made an half bow at the waist. "At your service Daniel," he said smiling.

Normally Danny hated when people called him Daniel. It reminded him too much of Vlad. The only thing worse was calling him Dan. That always reminded him of...him. Still when Melkior called him Daniel it sounded so respectful, Danny decided that it was okay for Melkior to call him that.

Danny bowed back with a grin. "Sarah has told me a lot about you," he said. "She kinda needs your help now. We have a problem." Quickly Danny briefed Melkior on Sarah's problem, and the siege at her house. When he read the directions from Sarah on the type of memory spell they needed to do

Melkior nodded then waved at Chase to join them. "Chase I believe that the book Sarah requires is the dissertation on Mind and the Memory by Doctor Neuron Lethe, Volume three. Can you fetch it for me from the library?"

The young man put his hand under his chin in a thoughtful gesture. "Hmmm That's pretty high up in the stacks. Can I use my board?"

Melkior looked amused. "Yes Chase you may."

"Can I ask him how he flies?"

Melkior now looked annoyed. "Chase-" He said warningly.

Danny chuckled. "I don't mind," he said cheerfully, "but actually I have to make my ectoplasm dense enough to stay on the ground. Otherwise I float away. It's kinda like ballast tanks on a sub."

"Cool!" Chase said excited. "I mean most of us TK's can fly a little. I'm one of the best, but it's hard to think up and in a direction at the same time."

"TK?" Danny asked.

"Telekinetic," Melkior supplied. When Danny still looked confused he said, "Chase, can move things with his mind."

"Oh!" Danny said understanding. "Up and down isn't a problem for me. I just change my ecotplasm, then I think a direction and I move that way."

"Wow!" Chase said, now eyeing Danny up and down. "You have one awesome molecular structure there pal!"

"Chase the Book," Melkior reminded him.

Chase snapped his fingers and tapped the side of his head. "Oh right the book. Don't worry I'll be right back with it. Come on guys!" With that Chase waved his hands opening the doors and he and his little group left.

"Chase is one of the very few telekinetic who can fly reasonably well," Melkior explained. "He is constantly trying to find better ways to maneuver in the air."

"I don't think the way I fly is going to help him," Danny said wishing he could help Chase. "All of the ghosts I know fly. Its how we change our ectoplasm though, we don't think that much about it."

Melkior nodded. "I think Chase just figured that out. He is also one of the very few TK's who can sense matter at the molecular level. He just got a very good look at your structure. Maybe after Sara's position in Amity Park is stabilized you and she can come for a weekend. It may help you develop your other ghost powers."

"Wow," Danny said impressed. "I know Sarah told me about other kids with powers, and even those books she has mentioned them, but I never imagined I would actually meet any of them."

"The Guardianship is like a family," Melkior explained. "The children here don't think about their differences, but how they all wish to have adults who love and care for them. I foster children who have no families, or in Steven's and Kira's place, care for them because their parents cannot."

"Stevie," Danny said thoughtfully. "The kid with the green hair?"

"Yes," Melkior said. "I also cared for Sarah in her youth, and many of my charges here consider her much like an older sister."

Danny smiled. He could imagine Sarah being a big sister to all of them. That brought him to an uncomfortable topic. "Melkior can I ask you something?" Danny asked cautiously.

The elder guardian looked Danny up and down. "It's about Sarah I suppose?"

Danny took a deep breath. "Sort of. Actually it's more about Vlad and his guardian, than about Sarah. Who was Vlad's guardian?"

Again Melkior scrutinized Danny carefully. "I believe you know who Vlad's guardian was or at least you have enough information to make an educated guess."

Danny thought out loud. "It has to be someone really close to Sarah which is why she hates Vlad's guts, and Sarah told me long ago that Vlad's guardian fell in love with Vlad so I'm guessing it's a she unless..." For no reason at all Danny shivered. "Eww bad mental image, lets not go there. Okay so a female guardian Sarah was emotionally attached to and her family has been in and out of the guardianship for the last few centures, and oh no." Danny's eyes went wide with realization. "Vlad's guardian was her mom! That's why she grew up here with you, and why she hates Vlad so much. Vlad killed her mother!"

"So she still believes that? Melkior asked with a sad sigh. "Is that what she told you?"

Danny swallowed. He didn't want to get Sarah into trouble. Now that he was used to having a guardian, he really didn't want to do without one. "Sarah wouldn't tell me anything. She said it was against the rules of the guardianship. Did Vlad kill her mother?"

Melkior looked at Danny sternly. "Daniel, there isn't anything you can do about it. What

is past is past. You cannot change it."

"I know that," Danny answered firmly his trips through time running through his head.

"But I need to understand what happened. Sarah told me that Vlad had a guardian and

he killed her. Now your saying that Sara's mom was his guardian, but he didn't really

kill her. I know Sarah hates him, but she swore never to take revenge on him, or teach

me vengeance. Please Melkior. I need to know what really happened."

Melkior looked at Danny sadly. "It won't be pretty, Real life seldom is."

Danny understood what Melkior tried to say without insulting him. _A child your age shouldn't see this._

With his arms folded in front of him floating high enough to look the man in the eyes Danny said, "Last year I saw my own home town destroyed by my own hands. I stopped that reality from happening, but I doubt that anything you're going to show me could possible be worse than that."

Melkior gave Danny a long scrutinizing look. Then with a sigh, he said. "If I show you

this you can never use what you know to seek vengeance on Vlad Masters."

Danny smirked "believe me I don't need to hear anything more about Vlad to know that

he's bad, and I'm probably going to be spending half my life protecting my Mom and

Dad from him, but I need to know the truth. He keeps saying that he wants to kill my

dad, but Jazz thinks that he subconsciously keeps screwing that up because he really

hasn't killed anybody yet. Is Jazz right, or is he really a murderer?"

The aged guardian closed his eyes and nodded. "Given that knowledge perhaps you

are right. While it may be Sarah's destiny to stand forever between you and Vlad, it

may be part of your destiny to stand between her, and her pain.". Melkior gestured

Danny to follow him the few feet to where the giant book rested on it's pedestal. Melkior

closed the book and indicated that Danny place his right hand on the cover. Danny did

so, placing his feet on the floor, and his right hand on the book. To his surprise he

could feel through the thick leather cover the power that rested there.

"Daniel, if you are serious about this you need to repeat after me," Melkior said, the

warning clearly in his voice. Danny understood why. Whatever he was about to swear

to, was going to bind him like nothing ever had before.

_I need to know_ he said to himself firmly. Looking the wizard straight in the eyes, Danny

nodded firmly.

Melkior nodded back. "Very well,"he said then began the vow. "I Daniel Fenton-"

"I Daniel Fenton-"

"Swear by all I hold holy and dearest to me-"

"Swear by all I hold holy and dearest to me-"

"that I shall never use what is learned here-"

"that I shall never use what is learned here-"

"for personal gain nor vengeance"

"for personal gain nor vengeance"

" In the honor of the ancient guardians-"

" In the honor of the ancient guardians-"

"whose ideals principals and philosophies-"

"whose ideals principals and philosophies-"

"I uphold and defend with my life and my honor"

"I uphold and defend with my life and my honor"

Melkior nodded satisfied. " Open the book and look inside Danny," he said softly.

Danny opened the huge book going back to hovering in mid air. He opened his mouth

to ask what page he should turn to when the pictures in the book began to swirl and

reform into a new image. Curious Danny peered closer and to his surprise could hear

the two people in the pictures talking.

Danny saw a woman, who looked remarkably like Sarah, with red hair dressed in

Sarah's customary blues and greens complete with flying cape. Buzzing her, a much

younger Vlad shooting ectoblasts at her.

There wasn't any other way to say it. Vlad looked different. He hadn't acquired the

horns or fangs of his current ghost form, but Danny could see small trends that hinted at

the future fruit loop he would become. His skin was still an odd blue green color, and he

still wore a cape, though it lacked the high vampire like collar. In fact the cape reminded

Danny of the flying capes Sarah and her mother wore.

"Vlad don't go this route!" Sarah's mother said. "When you start using your powers just

to get what you want it becomes addictive. If you give in to the temptation often enough

it will dominate your life until there is nothing left."

"I've got nothing left now!" Vlad shouted back. "They invited me to their wedding!

Maddie's getting married, and it's not to me! She's marrying the idiot who ruined my

life!"

"You have me Vlad." Sarah's mom said sadly, "and if you would give up this vendetta of

yours you would have the whole guardianship. Please Vlad don't rob that man!"

"Thank you Laura but no," Vlad answered, " you were very useful in learning how to

control these powers of mine, but I'm through with having friends who betray me in the

end. From now on Vlad Plasmeous takes what he wants."

"Your leaving me no choice, Vlad," Sarah's mom said, "I'll have to stop you."

"I'd like to see you try," Vlad retorted. He flew behind Sarah's mom and pulled on her

levitation cape. Before she could move or turn to throw a spell, Vlad turned her

intangible, swept her up to the bridge between two cliffs, and wrapped her with her cape

up on the train tracks.

"Ta Laura," Vlad said, "I'll come and release you after I collected what's due to me". With

that Vlad flew away leaving Laura behind helpless. She couldn't move her arms so she

couldn't use magic to free herself, and when the train came by to cut her cape away,

she used her last few moments of life using her powers so that the train wouldn't derail

rather that transport herself to safety. With her magic cape torn it couldn't be used to

fly. Danny turned away so that he didn't have to see Sarah's mom hit the ground, but

he heard the dull thud that ended Laura Daily's life. He winced.

"There still is a little more to see Daniel," Melkior said gently. Reluctantly Danny turned

back his attention back to the book which now showed a night scene. Vlad flew

back into the scene, and found Laura lying there lifeless

At first appalled, Vlad backed away and refused to look at the body. "It's not my fault,"

he said to himself. She shouldn't have tried to stop me. This isn't my fault. I'll just report

her missing. She should have known better than to try to stop me. No this isn't my

fault."

Danny sighed and closed the book. "He didn't mean for her to die," Danny said sadly,

"but he is still responsible. If it had been my dad..." Danny took a deep breath, and

stared at the closed book sadly. "Now I understand why Sarah hates Vlad."

Melkior nodded. "For a very long time she swore vengeance upon Vlad. She learned

sorcery, and telepathy in the hopes of hunting him down one day, but once you were

identified as a child of power she became interested. I was surprised when the high

council assigned her your case, but it seems to have done her good. You've both

developed a fine partnership."

Danny smiled. " Just before Sarah hexed Vlad she told him that if it was her destiny to

stand between me and him forever, that would be revenge enough."

Suddenly Melkior turned sharply toward Danny. "Wait, she hexed Vlad?"

A little taken aback at the man's forcefulness, Danny nodded carefully. "Yeah, nothing

really happened, but Sarah said his actions are gonna cause him trouble, so maybe he

didn't do anything yet that can backfire on him."

"Danny," Melkior began worriedly. "If Sarah used that particular hex, and yes she was

allowed to cast that hex on him, it doesn't have to be from Vlad's current actions, it

could be from his distant past."

"What could happen?" Danny asked

"Nearly anything, from former victims suddenly appearing to his condition being

revealed to your parents."

"Yeah, but if Vlad's secret could be revealed to Dad, then my own secret could be

revealed too," Danny said suddenly in a panic. "I've got to get back right away."

Fortunately it only took a few more minutes for the double doors to open to the study

revealing the older boy Chase flying on what looked like a surf board.

"Is this the book you need, Melkior?" The boy asked.

Melkior took the dusty red leather book from Chase, and leafed through the pages

making Danny sneeze when the dust tickled his nose. "Yes this is the one. There are

several good memory spells in here that Sarah can adapt." Melkior handed the book to

Danny. "Now take care of this, and take care of your guardian. Even though she is

your mentor and elder she is also human, and she needs support just like you do."

With a mischievous grin on his face Danny said. "Already figured that one out. Thanks

Melkior, Chase, Thanks alot."

"Good luck to you Daniel, and take care," Melkior answered.

"See ya, kid,"Chase added,"tell Sarah the resident WMD says hi,"

"Charles," Melkior warned.

Danny didn't get what WMD meant or why Melkior didn't like Chase saying it, but he

knew an in joke when he heard one. "I'll tell her," he said. He waited while Melkior

spoke the incantation over his mirror. Once he saw in the mirror the blue green bedroom with

Paulina and Star within he flew through knowing it would instantly take him back to Sarah's house.

Coming Soon: The Hand of Fate

"You! You're a ghost!" Valerie shouted. She tried to summon her ghost fighting suit, but for some reason she couldn't. She watched the ghost woman overshadow Mrs Fenton horrified. Valerie tried to shout out, and attack the ghost, but Danny's mother, now possessed, raised her hands, and Valerie fell to her knees with the feeling of lead weights on her arms and legs.

"I am sorry child," The ghost woman said using Maddie's voice. The woman's normally violet eyes now shining silver, "But I must protect my child as this one seeks to protect hers, and I cannot allow you or any others to interfere. She reached forward and gently touched Valerie on her forehead. "You will sleep now little one. Sleep and forget what you have seen here for now."


	19. Chapter 19

The Siege:

by Kellie Fay

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to...Oh well you know.

Authors Note: Yeah I still don't have internet. So I can't even see reviews, but please keep reviewing. It lets me know if the story is good.

Chapter 19 The Hand of Fate

Maddie paced the edge of the hedge nervously. The arguing and the stalemate bored Maddie. She just wanted to go in and get Danny out away from that witch's influence. Maddie wanted to fight this witch so that she could rescue her son. Jazz however had her own opinions about Miss Daily and the children.

_Mom think logically about this. Danny is pulling B's instead of C minuses in Math. She protected him and the kids from the red hunter's attack. Yes she has spells on the classroom, but all they do is help them do their work, and keep the peace. Bullies's don't bother Danny around Miss Daily. How can he_ not _like her?_

Maddie hated to admit it, but Jazz made sense. How could Danny not like this woman who's influence on Danny's life seemed to be so positive. Every night he would come home and would always begin a story by saying, "Miss Daily said," or " You wouldn't believe what Miss Daily did today." _He's starting doing his chores again, and he doesn't miss curfew as much either._ Could Miss Daily using magic to help Danny? Jazz claimed that both she and Danny knew about his math teacher's magic and chose to say nothing.

_Now that I think about it, Danny doesn't get in trouble in school anymore either. He gets fewer detentions, and he never gets detention in her class. Did Danny tell Miss Daily why he's been having so much trouble at school? Did she somehow use magic to make him trust her more than he trusts his father and I? Or did he talk to her because he thought she would understand more than we would?_

Maddie's thoughts began to run into each other faster and faster trying to figure out what Miss Daily knew about Danny and what Danny knew about Miss Daily that she did not know.

"Mrs Fenton?"

Maddie spun around to see Danny's friend Valerie watching her. "Oh Valerie you startled me."

"I'm sorry," Valerie said sheepishly. The girl's eyes turned towards the hedge, and the house beyond. "Jazz said you and Mr Fenton saw Danny in there."

Maddie nodded. "Jazz told me that Danny genuinely likes Miss Daily, and she wouldn't need magic to get him to want to protect her."

Valerie digested that slowly. "Honestly I don't know. Up until today I thought Miss Daily was pretty cool. I know Danny adores her. For that matter so does Dash. He was thrilled last week when he got his first C + in math ever."

"Do you think she uses magic to make them do better in math?" Maddie asked wondering.

Valerie frowned thinking. "I was wondering if Miss Daily used magic to make Danny like her, but she's always acted so nice it's hard to tell. I even liked her, but if she's helping the ghost boy she has to be evil right?"

Maddie sighed and looked at the hedge. "I don't know Valerie." Maddie wondered about the relationship Danny Phantom had with Miss Daily. She seemed to want to help and protect the ghost boy, but for some inexplicable reason Phantom chose to reciprocate. He defended Miss Daily earlier in the day, and on several occasions begged the adults to simply leave her alone. Even though Maddie knew it was impossible it was obvious that Danny Phantom liked and cared for Miss Daily.

"Valerie, you said you liked Miss Daily, but you don't anymore?" She asked the girl.

"Valerie sighed looking torn and conflicted. "I don't know. I mean Miss Daily always seemed so cool. She made the class fun, but she's protecting the ghost boy." Valerie sighed unhappily. "I'm just so confused right now."

Maddie understood how the girl felt. She couldn't figure out if her son was a prisoner willingly or enthralled by a magic spell.

"I have to find Danny," Maddie said more to herself than to Valerie. "If I could just talk to him I could figure out if he is under a spell or not. If only I could get past this hedge!"

"You wish to get past the sorceress defensive hedge? Why?" A new voice asked. Maddie and Valerie spun around to see a pale woman with shoulder length jet black hair dressed in a dark blue dress standing behind them.

"Who are you?" Valerie demanded

The strange woman's silver grey eyes gazed down gently at Valerie. "I am only another mother who is as worried about my daughter as you are about your son." The woman eyed the hedge critically. "I have seen magic like this before. Only those without anger in their heart can pass through the barrier."

"Maddie looked at the stranger with a desperate hope. "Wait, you know how to get through the hedge? I can't get to my son Danny."

The woman met Maddie's desperate gaze with a gentle smile. "I can help you find your son, but in return you must swear to me that you will help me protect my daughter."

There was something funny about the way this stranger spoke that made Valerie wary. She opened her mouth to voice her concerns when Maddie said, "I don't' know who you are, but if you can help me find Danny I swear I'll do whatever it takes to help you."

Suddenly Valerie found her voice. "Mrs, Fenton, I don't think - " But it was to late.

The stranger reached out, and grabbed onto Maddie's hand. "You have made the oath, and now you will live by what you swore, Madeline Fenton" A strange greenish silver haze surrounded both women. Maddie Fenton in a trance stayed quiet at the woman's side.

"You! You're a ghost!" Valerie shouted. She tried to summon her ghost fighting suit, but for some reason she couldn't. She watched the ghost woman overshadow Mrs Fenton horrified. Valerie tried to shout out. and attack the ghost but Danny's mother now possessed raised her hands and Valerie fell to her knees with the feeling of lead weights on her arms and legs.

"I am sorry child," The ghost woman said using Maddie's voice. The woman's normally violet eyes now shining silver, "But I must protect my child as this one seeks to protect hers, and I cannot allow you or any others to interfere. She reached forward and gently touched Valerie on her forehead. "You will sleep now little one. Sleep and forget what you have seen here for now."

Valerie tried to fight the spell being placed upon her, but the ghost's will overpowered her own. Valerie closed her eyes and fell to the ground sound asleep.

The ghost inside of Maddie Fenton rose to her feet. The girl lay on the ground unharmed, and would not remember her now unless someone counter spelled her. Now she had to fulfil her promise to Maddie Fenton, so she would be responsible for protecting her daughter.

Easily she phased through the hedge then released control of the body back to its owner. Gently she altered Maddie's memories so that the woman wouldn't worry about the girl then she settled down in Maddie Fenton's mind to wait and see if Sarah would need her help. Something had awakened, her and alerted her to her daughter's distress and she would help her child as long as she had power to do so.

Maddie shook her head out. Suddenly she felt so dizzy, but she couldn't let a dizzy spell stop her now. She got past the hedge with the help of that other mother, and now she needed to find Danny.

Coming Soon Chapter 20 An Accident:

"The flowers aren't dangerous for you," he said no longer resisting the smile that crept up his face. "But I'm not supposed to be near them." He lay down on the bed and giggled.

"Like those white flowers you're playing with?" Star asked, eyeing him oddly.

"Mhmm," Danny nodded, most of his attention on the flowers. "Not a good idea to give a ghost ghost nip."


	20. Chapter 20

The Siege

By Kellie Fay

Still trying to work around the fact that I have no internet. Otherwise these updates would be going faster. Still please enjoy and review. (Chuckles evily) I have been waiting two years to post this part. :)

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to...Oh you know...

Chapter 20: Two Accidents

Danny flew back through the mirror finding himself back in Sarah's bedroom. Her favorite colors deep blue, green and turquoise were on the walls and bed. Here he found Paulina and Star seated on the floor near Sarah's desk arranging flowers.

_Flowers? No tell me they didn't go into the green house!_ Danny thought in a panic. Was there the slight scent of Bikona in the air? Danny wanted to know, but he was afraid to find out. He knew if he took too deep a breath of that scent he might not care anymore, and forget what he needed to do."

At that moment Paulina turned around to see him. "Oh Ghost boy! You're here!"

"Uh Yeah," Danny said nervously. He backed away from the two girls, and their burdens, but Paulina came right next to Danny, and grabbed onto his arm. Instantly Danny began to feel dizzy. The book in his hands suddenly felt too heavy to lift. Danny put the book down on the night stand, and sat down on the bed. His arm felt warmer than the rest of him. If Paulina had been in the greenhouse could she be spreading pollen to him by touch alone?

Paulina must have noticed his change in manner. "Ghost boy, are you all right?" She asked sounding puzzled.

"I...I don't know," Danny said shaking his head to clear it. Whatever was in his arm was now slowly spreading throughout his ectoplasmic body, making his limbs feel heavy, and his mind out of focus. "Did...did you get those flowers from Sarah's greenhouse?"

Paulina instantly smiled, and produced a huge bouquet of flowers. She showed them all to Danny. When Danny looked at the array of flowers sure enough he saw five of the lily like white Bikona flowers in the center of the arrangement. Danny stared blankly at the white flowers for a few seconds. Even though he tried to breath as quietly as he could it seemed that the pollen in the air was getting into his system through his skin. His ectoplasmic body was porous and the pollen was getting in weather he wanted it too or not. He could feel the temperature in the room rise, and his judgement and commons sense erode away.

"Aren't they pretty!" Paulina said oblivious to Danny's discomfort. "Star and I thought we should put some flowers in a vase to make Miss Daily feel better.

"How nice of them," Danny thought muzzily He could feel that funny high feeling that the flowers always gave him, and he let it, even though he knew he should be out of that room as fast as he could fly. "Miss Daily told you to stay away from the greenhouse though," he said knowingly. He gently began to pull the five white flowers out of the bouquet.

"Well yeah," Paulina said uncertainly. "I know she said some of the plants were dangerous, but these are just flowers. They can't hurt us."

Danny knew that by now he was sunk, but he didn't really care. He had all five of the Bikona flowers in his hand, and he couldn't resist breathing in their intoxicating scent. "The flowers aren't dangerous for you," he said no longer resisting the smile that crept up his face. "But I'm not supposed to be near them." He lay down on the bed and giggled.

"Like those white flowers you're playing with?" Star asked, eyeing him oddly.

"Mhmm," Danny nodded, most of his attention on the flowers. "Not a good idea to give a ghost ghost nip,"

"Ghost nip?" Star echoed. She looked down at Danny. "Oh no!"

"What?" Paulina asked puzzled.

"He called the flowers ghost nip," Star explained. "He's acting like a cat on cat nip!"

"Cat nip?" Paulina looked at Danny and then the flowers. "Oh no! Uh ghost boy? Can I have those flowers back?"

Danny looked up at her bleary eyed and chuckled. "Nope!"

Star didn't ask. She just reached over to take the flowers from him, but Danny just turned intangible so she couldn't grip the flowers. With a small surprised scream, Star drew back her hand. Danny just giggled more.

"What do we do now Star?" Paulina asked.

"I think we'd better go get Miss Daily," Star said.

Paulina nodded she and Star both slipped out of the room. Danny didn't even notice them leave.

Once past the hedge Maddie found the run up to the house easy. Obviously Miss Daily relied on her magical defenses to keep her safe.

_Remember to keep only your desire to see your son within your mind_ the woman had said. Maddie couldn't remember who's mother she was, but she seemed as concerned for her daughter as Maddie was for her son.

What she didn't understand is why her son Danny adored Miss Daily so much. Then again Jazz put it very plainly.

_Ever since Miss Daily came to Casper High Danny's math grades has improved. She doesn't tell him everything he does is wrong. All the kids like Miss Daily. They think she's cool. I don't think knowing that she uses magic is going to change that. They're not going to care that she's a sorcerous. They're going to want to hang on to her._ Certainly Danny thought Miss Daily was cool. His grades had gone up, and some how every night at supper Danny would have some story involving his now favorite teacher. Miss Daily had been very friendly and open that first "meet your children's teacher night," She listened politely to Jack blather on about ghosts, for most of the night.

_Of course she did, she uses magic, she's befriended Danny Phantom. Jack told her all about the ghost boy. She must have used that to find some way to control him. Jazz said she might be a ghost researcher. She's using him to study. I wonder if we should collaborate?_

Maddie shook off the eager thought. _She's keeping the children away from us, I have to focus on finding Danny._

Maddie reached the house, and looked into the window. A number of the children were watching TV or reading. She didn't see Danny anywhere, so she moved away from the window so she wouldn't be seen. She pulled out the Fenton Grappler, and launched the hook up to the top of the house. Expertly Maddie scaled the wall, and found an open window. Quickly she slipped into the empty bedroom.

Maddie found herself a bit surprised that the bedroom wasn't completely empty. A dozen brightly colored flowers lay scattered on the floor. On the bed lay none other than Danny Phantom. At first Maddie thought that the ghost boy was asleep. His eyes were closed and a deep smile was on his face. With an amused smile Maddie wondered if ghosts dreamed. Suddenly he lifted a bouquet of white flowers to his nose and smiled chuckling. Maddie realized he was awake, but she couldn't help but feel that something was off. Carefully Maddie drew close to the teen spirit. Normally he seemed hyper aware of anyone in his general vicinity, but here she stood inches from him, and he didn't appear to notice or care. Maddie took note of the five white flowers in his hands. Well four and a half. One petal from a flower was missing. Phantom, oblivious to her presence pulled the flowers closer to him and gently bit a quarter inch off of a second petal and began to chew slowly. He sighed deeply his face showing pure bliss.

_It's like the flowers are making him drunk or high somehow._ Maddie thought. _Is that how Miss Daily keeps control of him? What are those flowers anyway?_

Phantom finally opened his eyes, but Maddie realized that whatever the plant was it definitely had an affect on the young ghosts. She could hardly see any green to his eyes they were so dilated all she could see were his dark pupils. He didn't seem to notice her at all. _It's amazing. I'm standing right next to him and he's so sedated he doesn't even know it._ Gingerly Maddie leaned over the bed. "Phantom?" she called.

The ghost's boys eyes strained to focus on her. A delighted smile broke out on his face. He seemed genuinely glad to see her. Before Maddie could register that on her, "that's not the way the world is," list, he said. "Hi Mommy!"

Coming Soon: Chapter 21 Something Danny forgot to tell his mom.

"I'm looking for my _human _son Danny," she answered gently. "You are a ghost you know."

"Oh is that all," Phantom said not concerned at all about that little detail. Suddenly a ring of white light formed around the ghosts boy's middle. It spilt into two and the pair of rings slid over the boy's body leaving in it's wake, her boy, her son, her Danny.

For several seconds Maddie forgot how to breathe.

Danny, no longer Danny Phantom looked up at his mother and smiled. "Better now?" He asked.


	21. Chapter 21

The Siege

By Kellie Fay

Disclaimer: yes Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman. *sigh*

Still looking for internet.

Chapter 21 Something Danny forgot to tell his mom.

Maddie blinked, and looked at the ghost boy incredulous. "What did you say?" She asked perplexed.

Danny Phantom giggled, and met her eyes squarely. That seemed odd. Usually Danny Phantom seemed almost afraid of her, and he would never meet her eyes. Maddie couldn't recall him giggling either.

"I said hi mommy," The ghost boy answered without a trace of fear. "How did you get into the house? I thought we put the magic fence up."

Now Maddie was positive that the ghost boy was drugged. He had no idea what he was saying. "Someone helped me get in," she said keeping her tone even. She didn't know if she could scare him sober, but she didn't want to. She suspected that Phantom was acting the same way a person did on truth serum, and she could get a lot of information from him right now. "I'm looking for my son Danny. Is he downstairs with the other children?

Danny Phantom laughed again. "You're so silly mommy," he said. "I'm right here."

Maddie couldn't help but be amused. _Phantom must be hallucinating or something to think that I'm his mother._ She wasn't sure if she should play along or correct him. "I'm looking for my _human _son Danny," she answered gently. "You are a ghost you know."

"Oh is that all," Phantom said not concerned at all about that little detail. Suddenly a ring of white light formed around the ghost boy's middle. It spilt into two and the pair of rings slid over the boy's body leaving in it's wake, her boy, her son, her Danny.

For several seconds Maddie forgot how to breathe.

Danny, no longer Danny Phantom, looked up at his mother, and smiled. "Better now?" He asked.

"Danny?" Maddie finally managed to sputter out.

"That's me!" Danny said giggling.

"Danny, you're the ghost boy?" Maddie asked, still processing what her eyes told her.

"Uh huh," Danny answered absently, nibbling on the flower petals again.

"Did Miss Daily do this to you?" She asked desperately trying to understand this.

Danny laughed again. "You're funny mommy," he said calmly. "Been like this for over a year now. Sarah's been here for just two months. I did this."

Maddie gave up trying to understand this. "How did you get like this?" She asked.

"I fixed the ghost porthole!" Danny said proudly. "Went inside, turned it on. Zap zap, instant ghost!"

_Instant ghost does that mean? _Maddie reached out and touched Danny's chest. His heart beat steadily under her fingertips. Danny was obviously alive, but Maddie knew what she saw. "So you fixed the Fenton Porthole, and it killed you so now you're a ghost?"

Danny looked at her and yawned. "I'm only half ghost. I'm still alive, or at least we think I am."

"Who's we?" Maddie asked.

Danny yawned again. "Oh Sam, Tucker, Jazz oh and Sarah."

"Sarah? You mean Miss Daily?"

"Uh huh," Danny answered. He seemed to be losing his ability to focus on her.

"Is she the one who drugged you?" Maddie asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Mmmm drug?" Danny asked puzzled. Then he seemed to understand. "Oh the flowers! Nope! Not Sarah. She knows better. Never give a ghost ghost nip unless you want him to be useless for a few hours."

"Ghost nip?" Danny was giving Maddie more information than she could process. She opened her mouth to ask about the ghost nip, but just then she heard voices coming up the stairs.

"Oh no!" Maddie mumbled. She had to get Danny and herself out of there! Maddie tried to lift Danny into her arms. "Danny sweetie, we have to go."

To her surprise Danny suddenly clutched at the bedcovers, and his body weight seemed to double. "No," sounding only mildly distressed. "Can't leave Sarah. I have to protect her."

Maddie struggled to lift her son, but to her surprise he was stronger than she thought. "Danny let go we have to go now!" She insisted, but Danny turned himself and the bed transparent, and her hands slid through him. It felt like trying to hold onto an icy mist.

"Can't leave Sarah," Danny muttered again. "I won't let her down."

Maddie heard the voices growing louder. She had to decide. "All right sweetie, you can stay, but I have to go. Don't tell anyone I was here."

"Okay," Danny said becoming tangible again. He rolled over onto his side, snuggled into the flowers, and closed his eyes. "Time for my nap anyway," he mumbled into the flowers. He took another breath, and then Danny fell into a deep sound sleep.

"Danny?" Maddie asked.

A snore was her only answer.

Maddie decided she couldn't wait any longer. She went and hid in a closet waiting for the voices to come into the room. Maybe she could snatch Danny away when they left.

She did remember to take one of the flowers Danny had his face buried in.

Inside the closet Maddie heard the door open and a familiar voice

"I can't believe those two!" The familiar voice shouted. Maddie cracked the door and saw Danny's friend Sam storming into the room followed by Sarah Daily.

"You told them to stay away from the greenhouse. I told them to stay away from the greenhouse. Even Tucker told them to stay away from the greenhouse. So what do those two idiots do? Go

right into the greenhouse and find the one plant that can render Danny useless in less than a half hour."

Sarah Daily shook her head with a sad smile on her face. "You and Tucker understand how dangerous magical objects are. All Star and Paulina saw were pretty flowers."

Sam sighed and sat down on the bed. She began to pull the flowers away from Danny one by one. "Great, he was eating the flowers again. Who knows how long he's going to be out this time. You were right we should have done more tests with the petals."

"We didn't need to. I can read Danny and find out when he'll wake," Sarah said gently. Maddie watched as the sorcerous placed her fingertips on Danny's head. To Maddie's surprise wherever she touched Danny small green spots glowed on his skin.

"I don't think he ate too many petals," She said after a few moments. "There isn't that much Bikona in his system. He'll probably be out for one or two hours tops. It's probably a good thing that he did eat the Bikona flowers. It usually takes him longer to completely recover from the pollen when he's awake." She waved her hand and said something Maddie couldn't understand. Suddenly little yellow wisps all over the room appeared and vanished. "There I've cleansed the room of any stray Bikona pollen or plant fragments so when he wakes up he'll be almost all the way back to normal."

Sam nodded in agreement. "At least he's getting some rest, but did he get the book?"

Sarah smiled and picked up the book. "It's right here. At least we got that part right." Sarah turned toward the door. "I'm going to research the spell to find out what we can do with it and how much we'll need to manipulate it."

"Okay Miss Daily," Sam said. "I'll sit with Danny until he wakes up."

Maddie sighed, and resigned herself to being stuck in the closet until her son woke up.

Her son was Danny Phantom. How could she have missed it? She and Jack have hunted the ghost boy for over a year and she never knew it was her own son. Maddie decided that she needed those few hours to think. Perhaps by the time Danny woke up she'd be ready to face her half ghost son.

Coming Soon Chapter 22

"The ghost took over Maddie?" Jack said.

Jazz and Vlad looked at each other. Both of them knew what Jack could do if properly motivated.

"If that ghost knew magic she probably bound Maddie with the oath to fulfil her agreement," Vlad said trying to distract Jack.

"The ghost took over Maddie?" Jack repeated.

"Dad," Jazz tried to calm her father. "We need to think about this reasonably."

"THE GHOST TOOK OVER MADDIE?" Jack now shouted. Before anyone else could say anything Jack pulled out his Fenton Bazooka and began firing on the Hedge. "HANG ON MADDIE I'M COMING TO GET YOU!"


	22. Chapter 22

The Siege

By Kellie Fay

Authors note: Thanks for all the great reviews. Yes when I started this story long ago I had every intention of outing Danny to his mom. Still don't have internet and it looks like that's the way it's going to stay. It's way too expensive to try to get it while I'm on vacation. I can only get online at Micky D's or Starbucks. *sigh*

FYI this occurs both before D'Stabalized and of course my own little bit called "Missing" for obvious reasons. Valerie doesn't know about Vlad. I'm still not sure how she's going to feel about Sarah Daily after those two incidents.

Reviews make the insecure author very happy,

Oh and one more thing. Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman not me. *sigh* If he belonged to me I could afford the portable Wi Fi

Chapter 22

Making a bad situation worse

_There has to be a way in without alerting Sarah,_ Vlad thought to himself, pacing the edge of the hedge like a nervous cheetah. Finding out that the guardian council assigned Sarah to be Danny's guardian came as a surprise. Not that he didn't know a guardian watcher kept an eye on him in Wisconsin. No he expected and planed for dealing with a guardian getting assigned to Danny. The true shock was that Sarah Daily received the position. _Why of all people her? _He wouldn't be able to lie or charm out of things with her around, and Daniel would probably worship the ground Sarah walked on simple because she hated him, and if she dared break her vows and tell Danny what she believed happened to Laura...well the child may not have his abilities, but he seemed to be a fast learner, _and with what Sarah can teach him..._ best not to think about it.

Following the perimeter of the hedge Vlad suddenly came upon his pawn Valerie Grey laying unconscious on the floor. Kneeling down on one knee next to the girl Vlad shook the girl gently.

"Valerie?" Vlad asked puzzled. Very slowly the girl blinked and rose into a seated position rubbing her head, looking confused.

"Mayor Masters?" Valerie asked puzzled. "What...what happened?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Vlad said. "What are you doing out here alone?"

" I wasn't alone," Valerie said confused. "I was with Mrs Fenton. She was trying to get past the hedge to find Danny."

"Was trying?" Vlad echoed. "What happened? Where is she now."

Valerie shook her head hard and looked up at Vlad bewildered. "I...I don't know," I can't remember."

"Come," Vlad said helping the girl to her feet. "We must tell Jack and Jasmine."

Jazz noticed Vlad helping Valerie who still seemed a little uneasy on her feet. "Valerie what happened to you?" the older girl asked.

"I don't know! One minute I was talking with your mom, and the next Mr Masters found me." Valerie answered frantically.

"Maddie? Where is Maddie?" Jack asked kneeling down to be at eye level to the girl."

Valerie shook her head in an effort to clear it. "I can't remember! Why can't I remember what happened?"

Jazz put her hands on Valerie's shoulders. "Valerie, calm down. We'll figure it out." She began to pull away from the girl, but Valerie suddenly grabbed onto Jazz.

"No! Jazz! Keep touching me! I could remember something just then!" Both Jack and Vlad looked at Valerie oddly, but Jazz sighed, and pulled out from under her shirt, a silver twisted infinity symbol, with a small glowing green gem in the center. "That looks like the necklace Sam's been wearing lately," Valerie said confused.

"A ward," Vlad said frowning. "Sarah Daily gave that to you."

"She gave it to me a while ago. It's a protection against magic," Jazz said, turning to her father. "Dad remember when that guy Freak Show stole that ring from the museum, and tried to take over the school? Miss Daily protected us then. She gave me this, because Danny was afraid that Freak Show would turn Phantom against us, so she gave us protections to keep Phantom safe. She never asked for them back." Jazz removed the necklace, and put it in her father's hand. "And before you think she's using it to control me, I'll say the same thing to you with or without the pendant on. Miss Daily is a good teacher and a good person. Danny likes her, all the kids like her. They don't care if she's a sorcerous they don't want to lose her."

"But if Daily gave you this ward thing why does it block her magic?" Jack asked puzzled. Suddenly Valerie snatched the pendant out of Jack's hand.

"No it wasn't Miss Daily! Gimme that!" She said. Holding on to the necklace Valerie said, "Yeah, I remember now. It was a ghost. She looked like anyone else for a bit. She said she was worried about her daughter. She made some kind of deal with your mom that she could get her through the hedge to Danny if she'd protect her daughter, but when your mom said yes, she turned into a ghost and took over your mom."

"The ghost took over Maddie?" Jack said.

Jazz and Vlad looked at each other. Both of them knew what Jack could do if properly motivated.

"If that ghost knew magic she probably bound Maddie with the oath to fulfil her agreement," Vlad said trying to distract Jack.

"The ghost took over Maddie?" Jack repeated rising to his feet.

"Dad," Jazz tried to calm her father. "We need to think about this reasonably."

"THE GHOST TOOK OVER MADDIE?" Jack now shouted. Before anyone else could say anything Jack pulled out his Fenton Bazooka and began firing on the Hedge. "HANG ON MADDIE I'M COMING TO GET YOU!"

Vlad rolled his eyes and pulled Jazz back behind the crowd. "If your father keeps firing on the hedge the wards on the hedge are just going to get stronger. Let me borrow your ward. I'll sneak past the hedge and -"

"You are not taking my ward to make yourself a hero." Jazz said frowning. "That ward is custom made with special properties. There's no way I'm letting you even borrow it."

"Custom made?" Vlad glanced at Valerie looking over the ward carefully. Noticing the small green gem in the center, he chuckled. "Daniel must trust you a great deal to have that placed in a ward for you."

"It was to protect him from Freak Show," Jazz said absently. "Long story don't want to go into it. If you want to ask Danny fine, but I'm not letting that ward out of my sight ever. If you want to fight your way past that hedge you'll have to do it on your own."

Vlad frowned but he didn't press the issue. He knew the children didn't trust him. "Perhaps a teleport will work. Keep your father occupied. I'll go to the far side of the house and try to get into the yard."

Jazz glared at him to let him know that she still didn't trust him, but she moved back to her father and tried to calm him along with Valerie and the other adults. Vlad slipped to the back of the house, transformed, and attempted a teleport. He used more energy than normally, but he did find himself on the house side of the hedge. The hedge glowed an angry dark rusty brown, and thorns the size of small javelins began to fling themselves at the hybrid ghost.

Vlad turned himself invisible and intangible trying to hide from the hedge's spell. The thorns passed through his body easily, but it hurt horribly. Baring the pain He glided towards the house eagerly. All he had to do was overshadow the children one by one and walk them out of the house, and he would be a hero. Suddenly a ripple of power in the air knocked him back several feet.

"NO! A voice sounded cutting across the dark night sky. A lone figure enveloped in royal purple energies shot from the roof of the house, her attention on him alone. Even though the body she wore was that of his true love, he knew by her eyes and by the rippling of energies around her that this wasn't Maddie Fenton.

"Oh, hello Laura," Vlad said trying to sound as innocent as possible. "Long time no see."

Coming Soon Chapter 23

Checkmate:

Danny broke off when he heard a frustrated angry scream from the closet. Danny's ghost sense suddenly went off and then faded a bit telling Danny that something just manifested in Sarah's closet, then moved away.

"Danny?" Asked Sam again.

"That was a ghost!" Danny said quickly. "But ghosts can't get into Sarah's house!" Danny turned Intangible and floated up to the ceiling. "I've got to find out what's going on!" With that he phased through the ceiling.

Outside Danny had the shock of his life. Floating above the backyard Danny saw Vlad Plasmeous face to face with...

"Mom?"


	23. Chapter 23

The Siege

By Kellie Fay

Disclaimer Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman

Yes I am still here, and for all of you waiting hoping I have finished rewriting this I am glad to tell you I divided up the last chapter today. ITS DONE! No not with this chapter you still have a few more to go, but at least now I know it will get done and I can look at my backlogged stories that have been waiting to post. So now on with the show!

Chapter 23 Checkmate

_Something is wrong_ The thought came to Danny while he slowly came to. What had happened to him? He remembered coming back from Melkior's with the book and finding Paulina and Star in the bedroom surrounded with flowers.

White flowers.

_Ghost nip!_ Suddenly Danny struggled to become fully aware.

"Easy Danny," Sam's voice filtered through the fog in his mind. "It's okay."

"Sam?" Danny forced himself to clear his head. He opened his eyes, and looked up at his best friend. "Sam, What happened? What's wrong?"

"Wrong?" Sam echoed puzzled. "Aside of what's been wrong since this afternoon? Nothing's changed since you left."

"N...no!" Danny sat up shaking his head out. "Something isn't right. I felt it as soon as I started waking up."

"You must have been dreaming," Sam said gently. "Seriously aside of Miss Daily still being under siege everything is fine."

Danny didn't doubt Sam, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was seriously wrong.

Suddenly Danny felt a static charge ripple across his skin. Forgetting the fuzzy feeling in his mind, and his fatigue Danny transformed into his ghost form and floated out of the bed.

"Danny? Asked Sam worried.

"Someone just majorly breached the wards," Danny explained fighting his dizziness. "I've got to find out what's going – "

Danny broke off when he heard a frustrated angry scream from the closet. Danny's ghost sense suddenly went off, and then faded a bit telling Danny that something just manifested in Sarah's closet, then moved away.

"Danny?" Asked Sam again.

"That was a ghost!" Danny said quickly. "But ghosts can't get into Sarah's house!" Danny turned intangible and floated up to the ceiling. "I've got to find out what's going on!" With that he phased through the ceiling.

Outside Danny had the shock of his life. Floating above the backyard Danny saw Vlad Plasmious face to face with...

"Mom?" Danny asked completely flabbergasted. A second later Danny's pragmatic side reasserted itself. That wasn't his mother at all. His ghost sense was fully active. Something or someone was overshadowing his mother. She wasn't responsible for her actions. Quickly Danny assessed the situation. The ghost possessing his mother floated high above Plasmious shooting ghost rays down at him. Danny noticed that the blasts fell far away from the adults on the ground.

Danny glanced down at his father and sister. Both of them looked on with expressions of horror and worry clearly on their faces. Danny felt a twinge of sympathy for both of them. He knew exactly how they felt.

Being careful to stay on his side of the hedge Danny floated down to Jazz and his father. Almost simultaneously both Danny and his dad said. "What the heck is going on here?"

Jack blinked puzzled at Danny. "You mean you don't know? You just came out of the house!"

Danny looked down at Jazz. "I had a ghost nip accident. I've been out of it for two hours. I didn't even know that M...Maddie was in the house. How'd she get past the hedge anyway?"

"Valerie said that another parent helped her get past the hedge," Jazz explained. "She said she was looking for her daughter."

"Her daughter?" Danny quickly scanned the crowed. _Star's mom, Sam's mom, Paulina's mom. Who's mother–_ Danny broke off and thought about what Sarah told Vlad when she first saw him.

_The evil he wrought, the justice she sought, the deeds of his hands?_ "Oh no," Danny muttered. "Melkior was right! That hex did something major!"

"Wait, what hex?" Lancer asked.

Danny sighed. "Sarah has a major problem with that ghost there," Danny pointed to Plasmious. "He tried to get past Sarah's hedge before, and she hexed him. His own actions are coming back to bite him, which might mean..." Danny trailed off, and shivered internally. "I've got to find Sarah!" Without a word to his father or sister Danny flew back into the house.

Danny found Sarah in the living room with all the kids. Danny took in a deep breath. He would rather talk to Sarah in private, but he knew he couldn't ask the other kids to leave without looking suspicious. "Sarah, I think that hex you threw at Plasmeous just came back to bite us. Maddie Fenton is possessed by a ghost who wants to protect her daughter, and I saw everyone else's mom out there. Considering the hex you threw, and what Melkior told me there is only one person this could be.

Sarah's eyes narrowed. "What did Melkior tell you?" She demanded.

Danny bit back the retort that they didn't have time for this. "He told me enough to understand how you feel about Plasmeous. I don't think he meant for it to happen, but I can understand how you feel, and obviously that hex you threw decided that he was responsible. Right now we need to calm that ghost down, and get her out of Maddie Fenton before Jack goes beyond panic to action. He can be frightfully competent when his family is in danger."

Sarah gave Danny a puzzled look but he thought about the time his dad beat Vlad back into the ghost zone, and Sarah blanched. "Right," she said. "If she is who you think she is if you can get Plasmeous to back off she might dissipate, or at least go dormant."

"I'll see what I can do," Danny said floating up to the ceiling.

"Danny wait," Sarah said. She reached into her closet and pulled out her cape. She flicked it once then placed it around her shoulders. "Sam, you and Dash keep the others safe in here," She said over her shoulder then looked back at Danny. "Get me up to the roof. You might need backup."

Danny nodded firmly and took his teachers hands in his own. He lightened her along with himself and floated her up to the roof.

Once away from the others Danny relaxed slightly Just above them, they saw Danny's mom shooting purple energy blasts at Vlad.

"Now Laura, lets be reasonable," Vlad dodging the blasts.

"Stay away from my child! Maddie said not sounding like Danny's mom at all. "Stay away from all the children!"

Danny frowned at that. "Is it me, or is she not as mad as I would be if I held Vlad responsible for my death?"

"She doesn't care how she died," Sarah said in wonder. "All she wants is for Vlad to leave us alone!"

Danny couldn't take his eyes off the melee above. "Sarah, if I get Vlad to leave, do you think your mom will let my mom go?"

"Maybe," Sarah said. "Just in case I'll get an energy sink ready."

Danny nodded giving Sarah his hand so she could use some of his energy to cast the spell. Then he flew up into the conflict.

"Go away Vlad!" Laura/Maddie shouted still shooting.

Danny couldn't help but snicker. He figured humiliating Vlad would work better than driving him away. "Old lover's quarrel?" He asked with an undisguised glee.

When Vlad saw Danny for a moment he looked hopeful. "Daniel! Thank goodness. Your mother has been possessed by an evil spirit!"

"Sarah's mom isn't evil," Danny corrected Vlad with a grin. "She just wants is for you to get lost. She doesn't want to kill you. She's not even blaming you for the accident. All she wants is you to get away from Sarah." When Vlad glared at Danny he simple shrugged and said, "Vlad, just go. If your not here maybe I can get Laura to get out of my mom." Suddenly a mischievous thought struck Danny. "Unless," the boy said with a smirk, "you don't want her to leave mom."

Vlad snapped around and faced Danny directly. "What is that supposed to mean?" He demanded.

Danny's smirk grew wider. He knew he had Vlad now. "Just thinking. My mom's body, the spirit of your old girlfriend possessing her. The one you say you love, and the one who really loved you? It's a package deal."

"Laura was not my old girl friend!" Vlad insisted. "She was one of those meddlesome guardians. Always telling me what to do and manipulating me!"

"Oh how horrible for you," Danny said sarcastically. "The person who honestly loved you wanted you to be a decent human being, and not a crazed megalomaniac fruit loop"

"Laura never loved me!" Vlad shot back obviously angry. "If she had she would never -"

"What leave you hanging by your levitation cape until the train cut it in half?" Danny demanded. "You might not have killed Sarah's mom, but you are responsible for her death! She should be trying to make you full ghost. Instead she's trying to get you to leave. Get out of here Vlad, your not going to play the hero. The best thing you can do is leave. At least then Sarah's mom won't have a reason to hold on to my mom."

Vlad glared at Danny, and Danny got the feeling that his old enemy couldn't understand his position. "What did you find out?" He demanded.

Danny smirked, "It doesn't matter what I know. I promised them I wouldn't act on it." His smirk grew wider. "You're not that important."

Angry Vlad tried to aim an ectoblast in his direction, but Laura beat him to it. "Vlad go away! Leave my daughter alone!"

Laura had excellent aim. After dodging a few seconds Vlad smiled nastily and said, "Very well Daniel you win for now, but I warned you the guardianship isn't what you think it is." With that he flew away.

Soon to Come!

Chapter 24

Spell A Spell B

A ripple of energy flowed down Danny's spine. Danny turned to look up at Sarah, who obviously felt it also.

"Danny?" His mother asked worried.

"Someone just passed my wards," Sarah said closing her eyes to focus. "I believe that you're father's desire to be near your mother has just overcome his hatred of me."

"Great," Danny said rolling his eyes. A second later he jumped to his feet and planted himself in front of his father. "Dad NO!"


	24. Chapter 24

The Siege

by Kellie Fay

Authors note: If you notice Danny in either form telling a small fib about his powers and stuff it's not a mistake. In front of certain people of course he's going to lie. I just didn't make a big deal about it.

Special thanks to everyone reviewing this story.

Enjoy!

Chapter 24 Spell A Spell B

Danny felt Laura looking at him, Danny shrugged. "He has never told me the truth for as long as I've known him. I'm not expecting him to start now." Then Danny turned to face the spirit inside of his mother. "All right Vlad's gone. Now get out of my mom!" He demanded.

"While my own child is in danger?" the ghost countered. "She swore to me she would protect mine as I would help her protect hers."

_All right mental note; try to find a way to tell mom not to make promises to ghost sorceresses who can force her to keep it without revealing my secret identity_. Danny thought to himself. To the ghost Danny said, "I'll protect Sarah. You just get out of my mom."

The ghost glared at him. "She is mine until mine is safe, but you may speak with her." With that Laura floated Maddie down to the ground. Sarah followed behind. Danny sped off behind the greenhouse and transformed. He ran out just in time to catch his mom fainting. Gently with Sarah's help he lowered his mom to the ground, and lay her head in his lap. When his mother began to come to, Danny said gently "Mom?"

Still disorientated Danny watched his mom look at him first with confusion, then with fear, pushing back a bit, and only then with recognition. "Danny? Is it really you?"

"It's me mom," Danny said drawing her into a hug. He helped her sit up then asked. "Mom what were you thinking? You made a deal with a ghost! Do you have any idea how much Dad and Jazz are freaking out right now?"

"A ghost?" Maddie's hand went to her head, and she shook it gently. "I...I can't remember. There was another mother out there, she said she needed my help to protect her daughter."

Danny nodded. "That mom was a ghost. Her daughter is Miss Daily, and I don't think she's going to go away until everyone leaves Miss Daily alone." He turned back to Sarah, and said. "I can't tell without my Dad's equipment, but I don't think your mom is gone."

Miss Daily knelt down, and looked at Maddie intently. "I can, and I think your right," she said with a sigh when Maddie jumped backwards two feet to get away from her.

Danny rolled his eyes, and moved closer to his mom. "Mom, Miss Daily isn't going to hurt you! What do I have to say to get you to believe that we like Miss Daily. She's a good person. If you and all the adults would just leave her alone we wouldn't have any problems!"

Maddie looked directly into Danny's eyes. Danny let her knowing that she would sense his sincerity, but looking back at her he wondered about her expression. There was something in his mother's eyes that bothered him, a sadness, and somehow he knew it didn't have anything to do with Sarah's mom.

A ripple of energy flowed down Danny's spine. Danny turned to look up at Sarah, who obviously felt it also.

"Danny?" His mother asked worried.

"Someone just passed my wards," Sarah said closing her eyes to focus. "I believe that you're father's desire to be near your mother has just overcome his hatred of me."

"Great," Danny said rolling his eyes. A second later he jumped to his feet and planted himself in front of his father. "Dad NO!"

Jack pushed away both Danny and Jazz who chased after him, away. "Get away from my wife you witch!" He raised his ectogun, but Danny jumped between Miss Daily and his father. Jazz pushed the ecto gun up away from Danny and Miss Daily.

"Dad No! You could hit Danny"

"Dad! Miss Daily didn't do this!" Danny shouted.

Jack struggled away from Jazz. "Back off kids I know what I'm doing. If it wasn't for Daily -"

Danny took in a deep breath, and shouted over his father. "If it wasn't for Miss Daily, the bunch of us would have been DEAD DAD! When did you see her use her powers? When she SHIELDED us from the Red Hunter's attack! If she hadn't protected us we would have all become GHOSTS!"

Sure enough the use of one of his father's key words he now had his father's undivided attention. "What are you talking about?" He asked.

Danny sighed. "Dad THINK a minute why did Miss Daily use her powers in the first place in front of everyone? It was to protect us. In fact they only time you've ever seen her use her powers at all was to protect someone."

Jazz nodded, and relaxed as their father stood down. "Danny's right Dad. Miss Daily's been protecting everyone from the first spell."

Jack lowered his weapon but he still glared daggers and the sorcerous. "Why wouldn't she let you kids go then?" he asked.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "I didn't want them here in the first place. They seem to think it's their duty to protect me."

Danny looked up at his father. "Come on Dad, you just wanted to shoot her. You know what Sam's parents are like they'd probably want to burn her at the stake or something. We just want to keep her safe, and here."

Jack looked thoughtful for a moment then glared back at Sarah. "What about that ghost?" He asked.

Danny now smirked and folded his arms over his chest. "Miss Daily didn't have anything to do with that. The ghost came in response to the Wisconsin ghost." Danny sighed and looked at his mom. "And she's not going to leave unless Miss Daily is safe."

Jack now looked at his wife confused and worried. "Maddie?"

Danny moved over and helped his mom to her feet. Still carrying a perplexed expression on her face, Maddie said, "I...I think the children are right Jack. I can feel something different inside of me, and I did promise her I'd protect her daughter. I...I don't think she'll leave until she knows that Miss Daily is completely safe."

"How do we do that?" Jack asked, looking back to glare at Sarah.

Danny now smiled. "I think we have a plan for that now." He looked up at Sarah with a smile. "Did the book help?"

"A great deal," Sarah said smiling back. "In fact I think we can do it now. Get the other children and get them around my circle of power. We'll do it there."

"Do what there?" Jack demanded.

Danny didn't wait to hear how Sarah was going to explain this. He had a feeling that if his father tried to force the issue Sarah would need Danny Phantom instead of Danny Fenton. He ran inside only to be confronted by the other children.

"What's going on out there Fenturd?" Dash demanded. Sam shot Dash a dark look.

Danny ignored the insult. "If we're all still in for the memory spell, we have to come outside. " Danny explained. "Miss Daily has a ring of herbs out there that helps her focus her magic. She'll tell us what to do once we're out there."

Danny led the way out into the back yard. There he saw his sister and parents. It looked like they'd been arguing. Danny grinned when he realized that his dad must have lost the argument. He looked very put out. Jazz had that superior know it all grin that he detested after an argument with her. His mom though looked a little uncertain and subdued. Glancing over at Sarah preparing the circle he thought directly at her. _Sarah, what's up with my mom? She doesn't look to happy._

Sarah glanced over at Danny's mom and went back to her work. _Not sure. She did convince your dad that we need to do this. She's not happy about it, but she didn't give me an argument, and she sided with me and Jazz about it. Could be my mom, but I have a feeling it's something else._

Danny sent back a mental shrug. Since she helped Jazz keep his father calm, he decided that he couldn't do anything about it so he wouldn't worry.

Sarah looked down at the crowd of children. "Okay guys everyone surround the circle in the herb garden. Boys on one side, girls on the other. We have to balance the energies."

Sam, with the book in her hands asked, "don't you need a trine to boost it?"

"It would be nice," Sarah admitted while she directed the boys where to stand," But all we have are maidens here, and even if Danny's mom was willing to help us we don't have the crone."

"Woah," Danny said. "Back up and slow down for those of us not plowing through Miss Daily's bookshelves."

Jazz glared at Danny. "A trine is a group of three women that can boost the power of a lot of magic. It consists of a virgin, a woman that has born a child, and a woman past child bearing years."

"Maiden, mother, crone," Sam agreed nodding.

_So Sam isn't the only one eating up Sarah's library_ Danny thought with a smirk to his sister. His father glared at Jazz and said. "When we get home Jasmine we are going to have a talk on how you know that."

Jazz rolled her eyes. "Junior year report on the weird Sisters of Macbeth, even though they weren't a classic trine I read a lot about symbology in magic."

Danny glanced at Jazz wondering if that was true, but said nothing. Sarah said, "but we still don't have the third member."

_Maybe we do,_ Danny thought. He didn't want to tip off his dad so he kept thinking at Sarah. _Sarah, when Jazz said a woman past child bearing years wouldn't a ghost count?_

Sarah looked directly at Danny, but answered mentally. _I suppose, but only if your mother is willing to do her part. I won't force her. _

Danny nodded then turned to his mother. "Mom, I know your not going to like this, but we do have a way to end this mess, and everything will go back to the way it was. We don't care that Miss Daily is a magic user. She's a good teacher and we like her. Please mom, help us with this."

"He's right Mrs Fenton," Sam added. "We just want her back teaching math."

"I won't be able to pass the state math test without her," Dash added.

"Please Mrs Fenton, if you do this we can all go home, and everything will be back to normal," Star added.

One by one the kids began pleading with her to help them.

"I'm willing," Jazz said. She pulled out her ward from under her blouse, and turned to face her mother. "Please mom. For Danny's sake."

"Please Mrs Fenton!" The other kids added.

"All right all right," Maddie said silencing the chorus of children. "Its obvious you really want Miss Daily to stay, but Danny we are talking about this more when we get home. I'll help."

"Maddie?" Jack said uncertainly moving forward.

Maddie sighed looking unhappy. "Jack, I think Jazz has been right all along, the children don't sound like their being controlled, and this may be the only way to end the stand off."

"And it's the only way to get the ghost out of mom, and get her to go away," Danny added. "Mom promised the ghost to help protect Miss Daily. She's not going to leave until Miss Daily is safe."

Jack glared at Sarah, and said. "Oh all right, but that ghost better get out of Maddie when their done, or someone's gonna pay."

Just then Sarah nodded. "It's time," She turned to Jack. "Mr Fenton, this spell will affect anyone not shielded, so I'm going to recommend you go into my kitchen for now. We'll call you back outside when we're done."

"And why am I going to go into your house Daily?" Jack asked menacingly.

Jazz answered. "Or you could stay right out here Dad, and let Danny decide weather or not to block your memory with the other parents."

Danny gave his father the oddest look. "Dad do you _**want**_ me to block your memory?" He asked sounding very puzzled.

Suddenly Jack looked frightened. "No! But I..." He looked at Danny directly. "You would do that?"

Danny sighed and tried to chose his words carefully. "Dad, this isn't something any of us want to do, not even Miss Daily, but we aren't going stand by and let anyone hurt her. If making all the other adults forget what happened tonight, and go home will end this then that's what we're going to do, and I believe Miss Daily just gave you the option of remembering tonight." Danny jerked his thumb back at the kitchen door. "Her house won't let the spell go in so you'll be protected there."

Danny could feel his father's eyes on him judging what Danny would do if he opted for not going into the magic house. Then he watched while his father locked eyes first with Maddie, then Jazz, and finally Miss Daily. Then without a word to anyone he turned around and went into the house dragging his feet.

Danny watched him go with a sigh. _And why are we giving my dad this option again?_ He asked silently.

Sarah patted Danny on the shoulder and said out loud, "It's called a sign of good faith. Go get in the circle with the others. Your job will be to focus on anyone who doesn't have children here."

"You mean like Principal Ishiyama and Mr Lancer?" Danny asked.

"Don't bother with Lancer, he's warded," Sarah answered, "but the principal yes, and Valerie and her dad would be good too."

Danny nodded. Sarah then moved to Jazz and his mom. "Jazz, Mrs Fenton, come into the circle sit here, and hold hands." When they complied she said. "Mrs Fenton, you are going to feel your uninvited guest trying to assert her presence when this starts. Don't fight it we need her energies to make this work."

Maddie gave one long unhappy glance towards Danny "I understand," she said.

_What's with the weird look mom just gave me? _Danny wondered, but Sarah said, "Danny keep your mind on what your doing." Danny nodded, took Tucker's and Sam's hands in his and closed his eyes.

Sarah began to circle Jazz and his mom, and said,

"Maiden, mother crone,

future, present, past,

in the names of Artemis, Hera, and Persephone,

may the waters of Lethe spring up from the underworld

to seal away this nights events

from all we designate to bring peace to all."

She began to chant in a language Danny didn't understand at all. He suspected either Latin or Greek, and made a mental note to ask Jazz later. Then he focused his mind on the three people that he had to make forget this day ever happened.

_Principal Ishiyama_

_Go home. Forget this day, your students will come to school tomorrow and be happy. Go home, forget this day._

Danny felt the spell take and hold easily within the principals mind. He moved on to his next target.

_Mr Grey_

_Go home. Forget this day. It will be better for Valerie and everyone if you forget._

Danny repeated the thought three times before he finally felt the spell settle in Mr Grey's mind. Then he took in a deep breath, and went for his last target.

_Valerie_

_Go home. Forget this day. You'll hunt Danny Phantom like you always do, everything will be back to normal. Go home for–_

_NO! _ Valerie's mind shot back at him full of fear and resistance.

Danny felt Tucker and Sam drop his hands so he opened his eyes. He saw his mother glow a brilliant violet before seeing the ghost rise up out of her and head for the front of the house. Behind him he heard his father bang open the kitchen door and cry out "Maddie!"

Letting his father rush past him, Danny doubled back into the house, once out of the kitchen he transformed and flew out of the front of the house. He saw all of the adults simply wandering away. A scream to his left made him turn to see the ghost Laura, with Valerie at her feet, bound by violet ectoplasmic energy bonds on her knees.

"No! Valerie screamed in terror. "What did you do to my father? Daddy! Daddy! Come back! No!"

Danny glared at the ghost holding Valerie hostage. "I know I know I screwed up the last one it didn't take. Please don't hurt her."

"I have not forgotten my own oaths to the guardianship, Danny Phantom," Laura said calmly. "She is too frightened for the memory spell to affect. Fear blocks the magic of forgetting, but this child shall not bring harm to my daughter." She turned to Valerie. "Swear to me from this day forward you shall not harm my daughter and I shall set you free," Laura said firmly to her.

Valerie still struggled in her ectoplasmic bonds. "You think I'm stupid ghost? You think I don't remember what you did to Mrs Fenton! The moment I agree with you you'll take me over!"

"She won't have to," Danny said firmly. Behind him he knew Mr Lancer had joined him, but he kept back several feet fear, and indecision on his features. "Making a promise by magic will hold you to it no matter what. Maddie Fenton kept her promise to her and that's why she released her. Just promise you won't tell anyone about Sarah. Laura will let you go and her magic will make sure you keep your word."

"No way ghost! I'm not stupid enough to make promises I'm forced to keep."

Laura sighed. "Then I'm afraid you will have to be silenced." The ghost raised her hand and pure purple ecot-energy began to glow within.

"No!" Danny cried out moving between Valerie and Laura. "I'm not going to let you hurt her!"

With a wave of her other hand Laura let out a blast of violet ecto-energy that pushed Danny out of the way back into Mr Lancer, and sealed them both under an ecotplasmic force field. Desperately Danny tried to break it with his own ecto blasts, but the field held strong.

"The Crucible! No! She's just a child!" Lancer cried out terrified.

"Laura no!" Danny begged.

Laura ignored both pleas, and focused her attention of Valerie. She bathed the girl in the royal purple energies and chanted.

"Speak, but none shall hear you.

Tell, and your words will not reach them.

You shall utter no words against she who I guard,

lest life and death lay upon the precipice,

or wisdom hold your tongue for life."

Laura then released Valerie from the energy bands. Valerie instantly activated her exosuit and began to fire where Laura once stood, but only the empty street lay before her.

Before Laura's ecto shield could dissipate Danny grabbed onto Lancer's arm, and turned both of them invisible. Sure enough once Valerie couldn't see them, she didn't think to use her suit to locate him.

"I'll show you ghost I can still talk! Wait until tomorrow when I tell everybody what happened. "We'll see what happens then!" With that she sped away at what Danny knew was her top speed.

Once Danny couldn't see the flair from her jet sled Danny let go of Lancer. "If we're both lucky, Valerie didn't notice you, and she'll think you forgot everything with the rest of the adults," Danny said casually.

Lancer took in several deep breath's trying to regain his composure. Danny wondered if he should leave him, that the vice principal could be afraid of him right now, but suddenly Lancer said. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, What did that ghost do to Valerie Grey? She could still talk I heard her clearly."

_That's a really good question._ "I don't know," Danny admitted. "But hexes like that aren't often taken word for word. Sarah said something once about intent making a hex work, not the words. The words are just a warning, and often it's a riddle." Then out of pure curiosity he asked. "So why are you all for Sarah staying at school?"

"What makes you think I approve of her staying at the school?" He asked.

Danny gave that all knowing smirk. "Because she told me you had a ward. She gave it to you long before this mess started. That means you don't care that she uses magic."

Lancer still trying to recover from the bad scare. "Yes well, I figured that since Miss Daily is well studied on the paranormal, that the number of ghosts attacks would drop in frequency if we employed her, and they have, though after tonight's events I may be having second thoughts."

"Don't," Danny ordered. "All Sarah did was shield you guys, she saved your life, and she's letting you remember. I don't doubt that she could get around that ward if she wanted to. You owe her two now, and you owe me one for hiding you from Valerie just now, and don't think I won't be holding you to it."

Puffing himself up Lancer looked Danny square in the eye and said, "it should be said, "and I'm holding you to it. You shouldn't use double negatives."

Totally flabbergasted that Lancer had the audacity to correct his usage at a time like this Danny said," Uh yeah right, bye!"

Danny flew back into the house, seeing it full of students lining up at Sara's mirror Danny went invisible and flew up into the bathroom to transform. Coming down the stairs he looked at Sarah and asked, "Are my parents still outside?"

"Yes, I think they're going to use your families RV to go home. I'm sure your father doesn't want to use my mirror." Miss Daily said guiding Star through the mirror.

Dash moved up for his turn then said. "Hey Miss Daily maybe you should cast a spell or something on Fenton so he doesn't have to run to the bathroom all the time."

Sarah smirked, but Danny knew the joke was on Dash. _Little does Dash know having you around is making that excuse less necessary anyway._ Danny thought to Sarah while Dash made his own jump.

Sarah turned to wink at Danny while giving her instructions to Paulina. "But I didn't say good bye to the ghost boy!" Paulina protested.

Danny turned away to hide his grin, and heard Miss Daily tell her. "He's tying up some loose ends for me. Don't worry about it."

Danny sighed. _Yeah loose ends, namely my mom and dad._ He pushed open the kitchen door back into the backyard. He saw his father kneeling next to his mom who sat on one of the patio chairs. Jazz stood behind the chair protectively. Maddie noticed him first.

"Danny where did you disappear to?" She asked.

Feeling the irony intensely Danny said, "Um I had to go to the bathroom after we made everyone else forget. Can we go home now?"

Jack drew Danny in for a hug. "Of course son, we're going home, and when we get there, I'm going to figure out what to do about Daily."

"NO!" Danny grabbed his father's hand and pulled to get his attention. "Dad please you have to promise me that you won't try to out Miss Daily."

Jack looked at Danny confused. "But she-"

"But what?" Danny interrupted. "She let you keep your memory Dad. She called it a sign of good faith. She's trusting that you won't out her." Jack still looked uncertain, but Danny didn't let it drop. "Please Dad, for me, leave Miss Daily alone."

To Danny's surprise his mom placed her hand on his arm and looked deeply into his eyes. "Jack," she said softly.

Danny watched his father's resolve melt away. "All right, I promise." Jack said giving his wife an odd look. Footsteps made all of them look up to see Miss Daily inviting them into the house.

Helping Maddie to her feet, Jack led the four of them into the kitchen. "I still don't like you Daily," he said frowning.

"I understand," Miss Daily said sounding unperturbed at the announcement. "I'm hoping one day you'll understand why it is important that I stay here."

_Hopefully not too soon,_ Danny thought directly at Sarah slightly annoyed.

Sarah lead them through the house then out the front door. She didn't say anything, Danny suspected she didn't want to remind his dad that she would see him in school tomorrow, but when Danny turned back to check on her he saw her wave and wink. _Hopefully not,_ she thought back with a grin. _See you tomorrow Danny._

Danny sighed with relief, followed Jazz up in to the GAV, and sat down leaning into his sister. Instead of shoving him away Jazz put her arm around him, and drew him closer. "Glad it's all over?" She asked.

Closing his eyes Danny relaxed for the first time all day. "You have absolutely no idea Jazz."

**Next Chapter 25**

**Silenced**

"But it's true!" Valerie shouted. "Why won't you believe me? Mr Lancer, you were

there! You saw: Danny Phantom, The magic hedge, the ghost that took over Mrs

Fenton!"

With a sigh Lancer replied, " perhaps we should just change Miss Grey's math class for

now."

A minute later Valerie stormed out of the principal's office followed by Mr Lancer. Valerie

looked at the crowd in front of her and said, "you guys remember yesterday don't you?

Miss Daily couldn't have gotten to all of you?"


	25. Chapter 25

The Siege

By Kellie Fay

Authors note: In case I haven't mentioned this before this story takes place before D'Stabalized, and in case anyone is wondering. I am ignoring Phantom Planet. Not because if wasn't a good story. (Though it could have been much better,) It's just so much fun if we out Danny on our own.

To 3nycorrall: When Maddie Found Danny in Sarah's bedroom she did take one complete GN flower. If you go back to the beginning of the story you'll remember Sarah with Sam's help are trying to propagate the species. The plants are very rare. Oh and Vlad doesn't know about them yet.

And now...

Chapter 25 Silenced

Danny opened his eyes and surveyed his surroundings. His favorite NASA posters

littered the walls. On the small bookshelf on the opposite wall sat his rocket models and

the model of Jupiter he made in the fifth grade. Danny sat up in bed, looked down

at the star covered comforter, and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "I'm in my own bed,

in my own room," he said to no one in particular. He knew that most likely meant that everyone else found their own beds last night, and only the kids, his parents, and Mr Lancer would remember what happened yesterday.

Danny quickly grabbed some clean clothes, and jumped into the shower. Seeing

strands of red hair, and one of his sisters stray headbands he knew that Jazz had to be

already up, and talking to their parents. Sure enough coming down to breakfast he saw

Jazz talking to his two sleepy yet still nervous parents.

"But how can we trust her not to control you and Danny with her powers?" his dad

asked looking far too serious to be Jack Fenton.

"You just said it Dad, we have to trust her." Jazz said calmly. "Mr Lancer knows

something about the organization Miss Daily is from. He wouldn't let her teach if he

thought she would hurt us."

"And how do we know he isn't under a spell?" her father countered.

Danny decided then to let his presence be known. "You can use that argument for

anyone," he said taking a seat at the table. "Why would she try control the entire town?

It's not like she's a ghost or anything."

"Well she associates with ghosts,"Danny's father grumbled.

Danny couldn't help but chuckle. "Most of the ghosts don't like her," Danny informed his

father, "but they respect her power. The only ghost that we saw around her house was

Danny Phantom. He really likes her, but then again she goes out of her way to help him

out."

Danny's mother gave her son an odd look. "Why does she help him?" she asked.

His mother's expression made Danny feel rather uncomfortable. "Well he fights the

other ghosts, and he's not welcome in the Ghost Zone, so Miss Daily feels he should

have at least one place he can feel safe. He really likes her, and he loves to help her

out."

"Humph," Danny's father grunted. "I still say she's controlling him. We should get the

school to change your math class."

"No way!" Danny said forcefully. "Dad I got a B in math for the first time in years! I

don't want to give that up! I don't care that Miss Daily uses magic. She's a good

teacher, and I like her."

"How do you know that you didn't get that grade just because she's magic?" His Dad

asked.

"Let's try a little experiment," Jazz suggested. "we can set up some problems he should

be able to do, and if he can do them here in the house away from Miss Daily we'll know

that she taught him how to do them, and it's not just magic."

Danny grinned and gave his sister a wink. Guardian sorcerous or not, Sarah knew

math, and she seemed to know how to teach Danny in a way he understood. If Jazz

kept to the first half of his math text he wouldn't have any problem.

"Well I guess that's all right," their dad said reluctantly.

"And if I get most of them right, it proves that Miss Daily is a good teacher and you'll

leave me in her math class, and Math Lab." Danny added with a mischievous grin.

His Dad didn't look happy at that at all, but he sighed and said, "oh, all right," then went

back to scowling.

Jazz chuckled. "Come on Danny, let's go to school."

Once in the car Danny asked his sister, "Dad isn't really that okay with Sarah, is he?"

"Give him a little time, Danny, he'll get used to her. He's a scientist, I think the magic

thing scares him a little." Jazz explained.

Danny nodded thoughtfully. "Let's not talk about Sarah too much at home. Maybe if

we're quiet about it Dad will forget about her."

"I'm not sure he'll forget about her," Jazz said, "but we'll give him less of an opportunity

to argue about it."

When they arrived at school they both heard a disturbance by the principals office.

Danny noticed Sam, and Tucker, so he moved closer to join his friends. "What's going

on?"

Dash, who was nearby chuckled, and said, "Grey's getting what's coming to her for

trying to out Miss Daily again. Nobody believes her."

Curious, Danny used his enhanced ghost senses to eavesdrop on the conversation in

Principal Ishiama's office.

"That is the most ridiculous thing I ever heard," the principal said. "A witch indeed."

"But it's true!" Valerie shouted. "Why won't you believe me? Mr Lancer, you were

there! You saw: Danny Phantom, The magic hedge, the ghost that took over Mrs

Fenton!"

With a sigh Lancer replied, " perhaps we should just change Miss Grey's math class for

now."

A minute later Valerie stormed out of the principal's office followed by Mr Lancer. Valerie

looked at the crowd in front of her, and said, "you guys remember yesterday don't you?

Miss Daily couldn't have gotten to all of you!"

Dash looked Valerie right in the eye, and gave her a nasty grin. "Don't know what your

talking about Grey. Me and Kwan watched movies at my house after school yesterday."

Paulina picked up on Dash's plan right away. "I went out shopping," she said also giving

Valerie that look.

One by one the other kids told Valerie that they were elsewhere. Danny couldn't ignore

the sick feeling in his stomach watching Valerie at the edge of tears thinking she alone

knew the truth. A glance to his left told him Star felt equally unhappy about the turn of

events.

Thinking fast Danny whispered in Sam's ear, "Tell Sarah I'm gonna tie up a loose end

for her, gonna be late." Sam gave him a look that told him she thought she knew what

he had in mind, but simply nodded. Danny wandered away from the group found a

closet and transformed. Shifting into invisibility Danny floated up behind Star. He

placed one hand on her shoulder, and one hand over her mouth to prevent her from

screaming.

"Don't be afraid," he said gently, "Fenton doesn't like this any better than you. Get

Valerie into the gym supply closet so we can talk to her." He released her then flew off

to wait for them.

Fortunately it didn't take Star long to get Valerie into the closet. Valerie looked worried,

confused, and frightened. "Star what is going on? Why are we here?"

Danny didn't keep Valerie in suspense. Instantly he turned visible, startling a yelp from

both girls. Valerie glared at him in a mild panic. Danny knew that she wouldn't turn into

the red huntress in front of Star. Before Valerie could recover from her surprise Danny said, "I've got a message from Danny Fenton. None of the kids forgot anything, but they're not going to

let you get rid of Sarah. Just leave it alone you can't do anything about anyway. That

ghost hexed you so that none of the adults will believe you if you say anything about

Sarah."

Valerie at first taken aback by seeing Danny and being unable to act, now grew angry at

his attitude. "What are you talking about ghost! What hex?"

Now Danny grinned, and repeated the words. "Speak but none shall hear you, tell and

your words will not reach them? This doesn't sound familiar? That ghost cast a spell on

you so that no matter what you do no adult will believe what you say about Sarah. All

the kids know your right, but they aren't going to back you up. She isn't going to let you

harm her daughter."

"Her daughter?" Valerie echoed puzzled.

Danny folded his arms over his chest, and looked at Valerie scornfully. "Yes, Sarah is

her daughter, and she wants to protect her. Not every ghost forgets their friends and

family when they die. Laura came back because Sarah was in danger. If you leave

Sarah alone she'll probably go back to the ghost zone, and we'll never here from her

again."

Valerie looked at Danny confused and angry. Not waiting for her question, Danny said,

"I keep telling you Valerie you don't know everything about ghosts, you don't know

nearly enough about Sarah, and you won't take time to learn anything about me."

Danny glanced back at Star. "Try to explain it to her, will you? If she wants to talk to

Danny Fenton he'll see her after school." With that Danny turned intangible and flew out

of the closet.

He found an empty hallway near his math class, and changed back into his human form.

Of course the class began fifteen minutes ago, but the moment he entered the room

Miss Daily said, "thank you Danny for running that errand for me." She then indicated

his seat with her chalk. With a wink Danny took his place knowing that later she would

give him the notes he missed.

Ten minutes later Star came into the room looking very unhappy. Sarah didn't chide her

for being late either. Very gently she said, "my messenger told me where you were."

Then nodded to Star's seat. Star sat down still looking miserable.

Later at the end of the period, Star said very quietly, "Miss Daily do you mind if I change

my class with Valerie? She's stills little freaked out by everything."

"Not at all, Star, you're a good friend to her. If you feel you still need more help in math

later you can come and see me in math lab at the end of the day."

A brilliant smile crossed Star's face. "Thanks Miss Daily." with that the girl ran to catch

up with her other friends."

Miss Daily watched Star go, then turned to face Danny. "I'm not

happy with how it ended either Danny, but I'm glad you tried to diffuse the problem."

"Did I do any good?" Danny asked.

"Some," Sarah said with a smile. "So did Star, and I'm sure talking to her later as

yourself will help to."

Danny nodded. "Just for the record, my dad isn't too happy about me being in your math

class either. Jazz and me have this bet going with him that if I can do math problems

that they set up that he'll know I really am learning here, and he'll leave it alone."

Sarah nodded her approval. "Good, I'll make sure to tell Jazz so she'll know what your able to do now. I just wish the rest of our loose ends could be tied up so neatly."

"Vlad?" Danny asked.

Sarah nodded, "and my mom. Where did she come from? Where did she go?"

Danny smiled. "That I can take care of. I'll swing through the ghost zone later and ask

Clockwork, but I have a feeling she went back to the Asphodel Meadows. It's a place in

the ghost zone where a lot of good ghosts just doze waiting for something. It's really

nice and peaceful there. Even I get sleepy if I go near there. Clockwork told me it's for

spirits that don't exactly want to move on, but don't want to cause trouble either. Most

likely she was there sleeping when she sensed you needed her. Though if I were you I'd be really careful about hexing Vlad again."

"Agreed," she said. "And thank you again Danny. You put up with a lot yesterday on account of me. I thought I was suppose to help and protect you, not the other way around."

Danny looked around to make sure nobody heard him address her by her name. "Sarah," he said, "I have now filed my life into three phases; before ghost powers, after ghost powers, and after getting a guardian. Believe me I never want to do without you, and I will do everything within my considerable power to keep you."

_...including a twenty problem math test to please my Dad,_ Danny grumbled in his mind figuring out the last problem.

Jazz and his dad each selected ten problems Jazz told his father what chapters of the book he should use. Danny did remember how to do each problem, and felt pretty confidant that he got all of them right.

"All done Jazz," Danny said handing over the papers. Jazz looked over the papers with Jack standing over her. To Danny's surprise Jazz placed one X on problem five, and when Jack pointed at problem fifteen she placed an X there too.

"Eighteen out of twenty," Jazz announced. "Good enough for you Dad?"

"Eighteen? I got two wrong?" Danny snatched back the papers. Sure enough he had made a small arithmetic error on both of them. If he had been more careful and double checked he would have found them, but in his rush to show off he didn't. "Jazz you can't tell Miss Daily I got two wrong on this!" He begged.

Jazz gave a wide and wicked smile, chilling Danny to his core.

"No, Jazz please. I'll do whatever you say. You know what she'll do to me if you tell her I got problems wrong because of stupid mistakes."

Suddenly worried Jack asked. "What will she do to you."

Danny sighed, and looked at the two errors miserably. "She'll make me do five more of the same kind of problem for every one I get wrong."

"You know why she does that Danny," Jazz said sounding all know it all again. "If she's told you once she's told you a million times If you follow -"

"I know I know!" Danny shot back. "If I follow proper procedure and organize my work, I won't make stupid errors in arithmetic, and If I follow procedure and check over my work I'll catch the errors I do make, but Jazz seriously that's ten extra problems for homework tomorrow."

Jazz just smirked again, and went up to her room. Undaunted Danny followed her still begging. "Jazz Please, I'll organize your books, clean your room, overshadow that guy in track you like and make him ask you for a date, anything!" That last part he said in a whisper so his parents wouldn't hear.

Once in front of her room. Jazz dragged Danny inside and covered his mouth with her hand hushing him. She waited a few seconds then whispered in his ear. "Go ghost and get us back in the kitchen invisible, I want to hear what they think."

Surprised at the strange request Danny did what she asked. He switched into his ghost form, then taking her hand, he phased them both back into the kitchen hovering over the room invisible.

Their father looked over the work again. "Well he did know how to do those two problems, even if he made mistakes with the numbers. I guess I'll have to keep to my end of the bargain, but I still don't like her."

"I know Jack dear," Maddie said absently. "But I don't think we need to worry about Miss Daily that much anymore. Didn't you notice?"

"Notice? Notice what?" Jack asked.

Maddie took her cup of coffee, and sat down next to her husband. "That was the first time I heard Danny say anything negative about his math class. He usually goes on about how nice Miss Daily is."

"He might think she's nice, but the Danny we know wouldn't cheerfully do ten extra math problems if he could get away with it." Jack mused.

Maddie nodded. "He wasn't happy about the bet Jazz made, but he was willing to go through with it. He does like Miss Daily, but given the way he just reacted when Jazz threatened to tell her about the mistakes, I don't think she's controlling him."

Jack sighed. "I guess not, but she's still controlling that ghost kid. I don't trust her."

Maddie took a sip of her coffee and frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe," she said sounding doubtful. "But she might be a way of understanding that ghost boy once and for all." Suddenly she looked up at the ceiling with such a sad expression it made Danny worry.

Jazz tapped his arm, and Danny took the cue phasing them back into her room. "Good," she said once they settled back on her bed. "I hoped having you react like that would convince them Miss Daily wasn't controlling you."

"You mean you put me though that for nothing? Jeeze Jazz you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"It worked didn't it?" Jazz said proudly. "They don't think you're being controlled."

"I guess," Danny muttered, still annoyed. Then he asked. "What do you think is up with Mom?"

"What do you mean?" Jazz asked.

"She's been giving me funny looks ever since she saw me at Sarah's house. In fact when she came to, she even flinched away from me, and every time I look at her I get a funny feeling in my stomach that's something's wrong."

Jazz nodded thoughtfully. "Something is on her mind. I'll try to get her to talk to me about it tomorrow. Now you be sure to complain a little tomorrow when Miss Daily gives you those extra math problems tomorrow."

That registered instantly in Danny's mind. "Wait your still telling her? Can we talk about this Jazz?"

All right One more chapter to go!

Chapter 26 A secrete held

Danny watched intently horrified to see his mother trembling and tears threatening in her eyes. "Miss Daily, what is wrong with my son?"

"Wrong?" Sarah asked deliberately misunderstanding. "Mrs Fenton I assure you there is nothing wrong with Danny. In my class he-"

"No!" Danny's mom insisted the threatened tears now streaming down her cheeks. "I know you know Miss Daily so tell me! Why is my son half ghost? How is that even possible?"

_How in the world did she find out?_


	26. Chapter 26

The Siege

By Kellie Fay

Disclaimer

For the last time. (At least for this story,) Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman. *sigh*

Okay folks this is the last chapter. It was supposed to be the epilouge but kind of developed a life of its own so I figure it's a legitimate chapter. With this I can finally say that ITS DONE! And I pray that I never lose a whole story mid post again. Now I can post some of the other things I've been working on like another TMNT story or I can finish an odd companion story that I'm writing based on stuff I came up with for this. I've hoped you enjoyed and If we're both lucky this isn't the last DP story I'll be able to type up. My creativity demons breed faster than my fingers can type.

Chapter 26

A Secret Held

Danny watched his mother carefully keeping busy in the kitchen. Something wasn't right. Danny knew it, but he didn't know what worried his mother. She looked well tired. Danny wondered if she was sleeping at all. Her eyes had dark circles under it, and Danny knew that every now and then he or Jazz would catch her crying quietly.

"Mom is everything all right?" Danny asked watching her pretended to be cheerful.

His voice startled his mother far more than it should have. "Huh? Oh I'm fine sweety. Here's your lunch dear." Maddie said again with a false happiness.

Danny didn't even look at the lime green plate with the tuna salad sandwich. He kept watching her trying to figure out her problem. Ever since the siege two weeks ago his mom still flinched at nothing, or stared at him for five or even ten minutes spacing out. She also switched between not wanting to be around Danny at all to watching him all the time like she feared he would vanish if she didn't watch him constantly. At first Danny thought she was just stressed from the siege. Then he and Jazz used the Fenton ghost detection systems to make sure that she wasn't still overshadowed. When all those tests showed up negative, Danny asked Miss Daily to look into it.

Typically Miss Daily she advised Danny to wait it out. She said that if it had to do with the siege his mom might just wish to speak with her privately during Parent Teacher Conferences.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go to Parent Teacher Afternoon with you?" Danny asked trying to sound casual. "I don't mind."

Danny's mother gave a weak laugh. "I know you like your math teacher Danny, but I don't want you bothering her when she should be talking to parents."

_Bingo!_ Danny thought to himself smugly. _I didn't even mention Sarah, but Mom did which means she's thinking about Sarah. Argh! Now I'm thinking like Jazz!_

"Is Dad going with you?" Danny asked.

At the sink his mother shook her head no. "Your father had a breakthrough this morning so I'll just leave him in the lab and go myself."

_Yeah you were up all night fixing it so Dad would have his Eureka moment this morning._ Danny could definitely smell a deception.

"Uh okay," Danny still didn't know what was bothering his mom, but he knew Sarah would figure it out. He finished his lunch, and gave his mother a charming smile. "So it's okay if I go over to Tucker's while you go to the conference?"

"Sure dear, just be home in time for supper." His mother answered absently.

"No problem, Mom. See you later!" Danny said quickly. He ran out of the house. Two blocks down he stopped, and ducked into an alley. He went ghost easily then floated up into the sky. Once at a comfortable altitude Danny hung in the air, pulled out his cell phone, and dialed Tucker's PDA.

Tucker picked up after two rings. "Hey Danny," he said, "You coming over?"

"Yes and no," Danny said with a sigh. "My mom is going off to the Parent Teacher Conferences, alone, without dad, and she didn't want me to go with her. I'm going to put my plan into action."

For a few seconds Tucker didn't say anything, then he asked, "Is she still acting weird around you?"

"Yep," Danny affirmed, nodding even though he knew Tucker couldn't see. "If she's going to say anything it will probably happen today. So if anyone asks I'm with you."

"No problem, Danny," Tucker said cheerfully. "Consider your alibi covered."

"Thanks Tuck, I'll come by later, and fill you in," Danny said then clicked off the phone. The whereabouts of Danny Fenton taken care of, Danny Phantom flew over to the school.

Danny turned invisible way before he reached the school, and quietly slipped inside the building. He stayed invisible floating through the halls. He didn't want to freak out the adults seeing a ghost flying around the school even if he wasn't terrorizing anyone.

Danny reached the safety of Sarah's room, and slipped inside while Sarah, in her full teacher mode, spoke to Sam's parents with Sam in attendance.

Sam's parents always liked to bring Sam with them to parent Teacher Conferences so that they could berate her in front of the teacher. Danny with a healthy sense of mischief warned Sarah about that a week ago. Sarah smiled mysteriously, and told Danny not to worry about it.

Now Danny grinned broadly listening to Sarah talk circles around Sam's parents. She told them how she enjoyed Sam's individuality

"Sam is destined for great things," Sarah said with a pleasant smile on her face though Danny could see the mischief in her eyes. "No great woman in history ever just went along with the crowd. She only gets vocal and rebellious when she feels she's being patronized or ignored, and I'd never do that to her. You have a future Marie Curie, Elizabeth Blackwell, or a Susan B Anthony on your hands. Her independence should be encouraged and nurtured. Her academic skills are excellent, so there's no worry there. I expect to see your daughter in the Senate one of these days or even the White House.

"Really?" Sam's father asked excitedly.

"Uhg," Sam groaned. "As if I'd ever get involved in politics."

Danny however could see the laughter in her eyes. Sarah had definitely thrown Sam's parents for a loop.

"Well I see," Sam's mother said slightly confused. "But I wish you wouldn't sit her next to that Fenton boy. He's such a horrible influence on her."

Danny wondered if Sarah would let him freeze or overshadow Sam's mom for just a minute; Just long enough to dump her in the school's pool.

_No!_ Sarah's mental voice sounded firmly in Danny's mind. _Not the way to handle things Danny. Don't worry though, I've got her number. _

Speaking to Sam's mother Sarah said out loud, "I understand your concern Mrs Manson, but I don't think Sam would easily be led astray by a boy. I actually have Sam next to Danny so she'll keep him in line for me. She's a good influence on him."

_WHAT? _Danny thought indignantly. Looking down at Sam he couldn't help but think of all the times she got him in over his head. He could see Sam screwing up her face trying to suppress a giggle.

_Okay both of them are going to hear it from me later,_ Danny thought suppressing a sigh.

Still the comment seemed to mollify and confuse Sam's parents. "Oh," Sam's mother said sounding very subdued. "Well I'm glad Sam's been such a help to you."

With a warm smile on her face Sarah said, "I told you Sam has some great leadership skills. No matter what she does she's going to go far."

The report made Sam's parents happy. They left the classroom telling Sam how much she's growing up and how proud they were of her.

Sarah waited until she was sure Sam's family couldn't hear her and then she laughed. "It's amazing how all the little things that irritate you about your children become outstanding qualitites when the teacher says they show leadership skills. Oh and Danny, I do intend to give the whole leadership speech to your parents, so don't even thing about dropping one of your snowballs down my back."

Danny laughed and became visible floating down to her side. "I'll never be able to fool you will I?" He asked sheepishly.

"My room, my wards, my alarm spells. I know everyone in the room Danny. I meant it when I said I'd give your parents a good report. You didn't have to come eavesdrop."

"It's not what your going to say that worries me." Danny explained. "My mother is coming here, alone. She didn't want me to come, and she worked all last night to keep my Dad busy with an invention all afternoon."

"Hmmm," Sarah looked thoughtful for a few seconds. "Is she still acting funny?"

Danny nodded. "Staring at me when she thinks I'm not looking. Crying when no one's around. Something happened the night of the siege, and I don't know what."

"Maybe she wants to come alone to talk to me." Sara observed.

"That's what I figured," Danny answered. "That's why I came over. I know it isn't the most ethical thing in the world but -"

"But you really want to know what's troubling your mother." Sarah finished nodding. "Well she just tripped my early detection spells, so make your self hard to see. "

Sarah didn't say make yourself scarce, so she had every intention of letting him hang around and eavesdrop.

It only took five minutes for Danny's mom to appear in the classroom door.

"Hello Mrs Fenton," Sarah said smoothly rising to her feet. She walked around her desk and shook Maddie's hand.

Maddie looked distracted and unhappy. Danny noticed how nervous his mother seemed in Sarah's presence. Only his parents, Vlad, and Mr Lancer remembered what happened that night. Still his mother's unease made Danny smile amused. _My mom is more than willing to face down some of the worst ghosts, but she's afraid of my math teacher._

"Yes hello," Maddie answered absently. Danny watched both women take a seat.

Sarah began cheerfully pretending this was just another parent teacher conference. "Now I'm sure you're curious about Danny's grades. I'm happy to report that Danny's math grades have improved. All he needed was a little help in organizing how to solve algebraic problems. He still has a little problem with sticking to a process, but I have some techniques that will help. -"

"Miss Daily?" Maddie suddenly cut into Sarah's speech.

"Is there something the matter Mrs Fenton?" Sarah asked concerned.

Danny watched intently horrified to see his mother trembling and tears threatening in her eyes. "Miss Daily, what is wrong with my son?"

Danny started to shake himself. That odd feeling of a dead weight in his stomach came back instantly. It never went away after the siege. He'd forget about it for a while, but he realized that whenever his mom looked at him, that feeling came back.

"Wrong?" Sarah asked deliberately misunderstanding. "Mrs Fenton I assure you there is nothing wrong with Danny. In my class he-"

"No!" Danny's mom insisted the threatened tears now streaming down her cheeks. "I know you know Miss Daily so tell me! Why is my son half ghost? How is that even possible?"

If it hadn't been for Sarah and Sam both coaching Danny in controlling his powers even under extreme duress, Danny would have dropped to the floor and turned visible in shock. Fortunately he stayed invisible and in the air. _How in the world did she find out?_

"How did you find out?" Miss Daily verbalized Danny's question.

Maddie sighed sadly. "It was during the siege at your house. I...I broke into one of your bedrooms and I saw Ph-... well what I thought was Phantom laying on the bed, but he was acting so strange like he was drunk or something. I thought he was hallucinating when he called me mommy but then he changed! He told me he got like this by fixing the Fenton Porthole. How could I be such a horrible mother that I was so excited about the porthole that I didn't see that Danny had changed? How could I be so blind that I didn't recognize my own son while I was shooting at him?"

Sarah quietly offered Danny's mother her box of tissues, and waited until she could get herself under control. After a few minutes Sarah said slowly. "At first Danny told me that he tried to forget what happened. Then when he couldn't ignore his new powers any longer, he was afraid of what you would think if you found out that the porthole had changed him. Then the ghosts started coming out of the porthole, and Danny decided that since he made the porthole work, he was responsible for putting them back in. He was just becoming comfortable with his powers when an enemy of his framed Danny attacking the mayor. After that he figured it was safer for you and your husband not to know."

"All this time we've been hunting our own son and we didn't know." Maddie began crying again.

"But Danny did," Sarah said reaching out and taking her hand. "Danny had the choice to tell you at anytime. He chose not to. Even when he knew without a doubt that you would accept and love him as a half ghost he still thought it was safer for you not to remember. It was his choice and I wasn't here yet. We have a policy about children who keep their powers secret from their parents. We don't betray their secretes, but we do encourage them to tell their parents if telling won't cause the family to reject them."

Sarah's tone told Danny and Maddie that there had been cases where the family had reacted poorly to the child's abilities.

"Miss Daily," Maddie asked sounding calmer, but still puzzled. "Who are you? You said we have a policy. Who are we?"

Sarah sighed, and told Danny's mom about The Guardianship. How they were dedicated to helping children with special powers, giving them the care and support they needed to simply be different and powerful in a world that may hate and fear them. That they help children learn to control their powers if they need too, and help them hide their abilities. She told Maddie about how some children were victims of trauma or stress either before or after their powers developed and needed psychological help in addition to help with their powers. How some of the children were orphaned and needed adult influences in their lives." Danny had heard it all before, and began to tune it all out when suddenly Sarah said something Danny didn't know.

"Mrs Fenton, I'm not here to replace you. I'm here to help both you and Danny. Even before I arrived here in Amity Park Danny made a choice that meant he would need a huge amount of support. He chose, without any prompting from anyone, to be a defender of others."

When Maddie looked blankly at her Sarah smiled, and said, "I suppose you could say super-hero, but most of the children agree that is sounds rather pretentious."

"A super-hero?" Maddie echoed.

Sarah nodded. "At first it was out of a sense of responsibility. He released the ghosts he should put them back. But once you start protecting people you worry about what would happen if you stopped. We don't usually encourage children to protect others openly with their powers. It's a very difficult life full of complications and phobia's. Those are tripled when the child uses a dual identity. Sometimes in order to hide their hero identity their normal identity goes through a minor personality shift, and even they don't understand it, but once the child has chosen to be a defender we don't actively discourage them."

_That explains a lot about Sarah,_ Danny thought. _But why won't she discourage me?_ True he should have been majorly discouraged by all the everyday headaches he had with being Danny Phantom, but despite it all he just couldn't see himself giving up being a hero.

"If it's so difficult especially on a child why don't you people discourage them?" Maddie asked echoing Danny's thoughts.

Sarah's normally cheery face looked gentle yet determined. Danny felt that Sarah expected the question. "The Guardianship studies many different philosophies in dealing with children with different backgrounds and powers. Some of these philosophies believe that children of power exist for a reason. It may be they need their gifts for a single great event they are destined to fulfill. Some philosophies believe that children who chose to become open defenders do so to make up for something in a past life or even in their current life."

"A past life?" Maddie asked puzzled.

Sarah shrugged. "Some of the philosophies are non-western, but we use whatever makes the most sense to the child. Every child of power -"

_Is a unique individual and has their own unique needs._ Danny mentally recited along with Sarah in his head. That seemed to be the major philosophy of The Guardianship.

"Danny is growing into a wonderful young man and a great hero. He still has a lot to learn about who he is and who he wants to be, but for him and the amount of time he's had his powers he's really become a true hero."

Maddie sighed sadly. "I am proud of him, and I'm glad you're helping him, but what he's doing puts him in so much danger. In a lot of ways he's still my baby boy."

Sarah nodded. "My mentor Melkior always said that it's harder for the parent to watch their child grow into a defender than for the child to be that defender. If he becomes an astronaut his life wouldn't be any less hazardous."

"True," Maddie said with a smile. "And Jack would be so proud to know that Danny's hunting ghosts."

_No! Not Dad!_ Danny thought desperately _Sarah, please tell my mom not to tell Dad!_

Sarah gave no indication that she heard Danny's thoughts but Danny didn't expect her to give him away. Sarah looked Maddie up and down and asked, "are you going to tell your husband?"

"Of course I'm -" Maddie began then sounding slightly uncertain, she asked, "Do you think I should?"

"I told you that Danny chose on several occasions not to tell you. He's gone through several reasons why, but right now his current reason is valid. He's protecting you from his enemies. Even if you do tell Danny that you know about his powers he still will not wish to answer all of your questions. There are too many mistakes he made that he's afraid to confess to you, and if his enemies found out that you did know about his ghost powers they would wonder what else he has told you."

Now Danny watched his mother's face grow serious. "I see."

"Now I'm sure you can keep a secret." Sarah said trying to be reassuring, "but your husband is naive and too trusting. I would talk to Danny first before you tell your husband anything."

"But then I would have to talk to Danny," Maddie said sadly. "Given what you told me about Danny, I think he would be happier not worrying about me knowing. You won't tell him will you?"

Sarah smiled. "I promise you, Mrs Fenton. Your son will not hear this from me."

Danny couldn't help but chuckle silently. _Yeah I'll hear it with my own two ears._ Danny thought back at Sarah. This didn't turn out as badly as he thought it would. He's mom would probably never mention it. She could pretend she didn't know and he could pretend he didn't know that she knew. Everybody would be happy.

"Can I ask you one more thing Miss Daily?" Maddie said sounding much happier than when she came in."

"Of course Mrs Fenton," Sarah said happily.

Maddie took out of her pocket a sealed specimen bag holding a single white flower. "What is this and why did it drug Danny?"

Sarah laughed heartily and held up the bag. "This is probably the current bane of your son's existence. It's ancient name translates out as the ghost plant, but I believe the children's name for it, ghost nip, describes it better."

Seeing the ghost nip did it for Danny. He learned what he needed to learn, and he didn't want to hear any more about that stupid plant than he already knew. He turned himself intangible and flew out of the classroom.

He flew home quietly landing in his own room. He transformed into his human form and landed on his bed. Rolling over to reach his backpack Danny pulled out his English book, and began to read trying to put this afternoon's conversation out of his mind.

"Danny?"

Danny opened his eyes and looked up at his older sister. "Huh? Jazz?"

Jazz's expression instantly turned worried. "Danny are you okay?"

Danny sat up and shook the cobwebs out of his mind. "Yeah I'm fine. I guess I dozed off reading. Is mom home yet?"

Jazz shook her head no. "No, not yet. She did call a little while ago to say she'd be late. Why? What's up?"

Danny sighed. "Mom knows," he told her. "When she went to the parent teacher conference she asked Sarah everything."

"She knows? But how did she find out?" Jazz asked.

With a heavy sigh Danny said, "Apparently I told her." Before Jazz could ask Danny explained. "It was that stupid ghost nip! Paulina shoved a bunch of those flowers under my nose. I kinda remember telling her that she shouldn't have done that, but by then I was too plastered to care. I don't remember anything until I woke up and –"

Danny broke off his eyes widening realizing something.

"Danny?" Jazz asked worried.

"Jazz, when I woke up I knew something was wrong, or at least out of place. Sam didn't understand it but a few minutes later Laura took over mom, and flew up out of the house. Mom was in the house while I was drunk on the ghost nip. She said she talked to me, and I transformed in front of her, and I can't remember any of it! I knew there was a reason I hated that stuff."

"So what is mom going to do?" Jazz asked.

"I'm not sure," Danny said. "I think Sarah talked mom out of telling Dad right away, and I think she's not going to ask me a lot of questions either. I'm not going to say anything unless she does, and she asked Sarah not to tell me."

"I see," Jazz said slowly, "so you don't think mom will say anything?"

"Probably not," Danny said, "And if she doesn't I'm-"

"Kids!" Their mom's voice sounded from downstairs. "Dinner!"

Danny and Jazz came down for dinner. Danny waited to hear his mother say something about her conversation with Miss Daily, but she didn't say anything.

After dinner Danny volunteered to help with the dishes. "So what did Mr Lancer say about my English grade?" Danny asked.

Just as he planned asking about Mr Lancer kept his mother from suspecting he knew. "Oh I really didn't see Mr Lancer," Danny's mom said guiltily. "I spent most of the time speaking to Miss Daily. I can see what you like about her."

"I guess I'm passing then?" Danny asked, knowing full well that his mom didn't care about his grades in this one instance.

"Yes she said your passing." Maddie said handing Danny the last dish. For a few minutes she was silent watching Danny dry the dish and hand it back. She was staring again, but this time her gaze held less stress than it had earlier.

"Danny," She finally said putting away the last plate. "You know that if you need anything at all you can come to me."

There it was, the invitation to talk to her, to admit to everything. Danny decided firmly not to take the bait. "I know mom."

"Anything at all," his mother repeated. "I'm here for you."

"Danny reached over and hugged his mother firmly. "I know mom," he repeated. "Don't worry everything is fine." He felt her hug him a little tighter than usual, and only let go of him reluctantly. He knew what she really wanted to say. He finished in the kitchen then went back up to his room.

Jazz came in a few minutes later. "It's still a stalemate between you and mom isn't it?" She asked.

Danny sighed. "Yeah. Neither one of us wants to change things right now. "

"Don't you think you two should talk about it. I mean this has been a long time coming."

Danny closed his eyes. "You didn't tell me for six months," He reminded her. "In fact I had to bring it up and then you tried to deny it. Besides I don't think Mom is ready to talk to me about it yet. You didn't see her freaking out in school."

"Mom freaked out in school?" Jazz echoed skeptically

"Well she cried a lot. She blames herself for a lot of it, which we both knew she'd do. Sarah is pretty good at damage control, and she told mom a lot about The Guardianship. I think mom gets it."

"Well that's good." Jazz said with a smile. Then with a mischievous grin, "So how long will it take before mom starts doing small harmless experiments on you?"

Danny sighed. "I'll give her a month, sooner if she talks to Sarah more, and speaking of small harmless experiments, there is a sample of Ghost Nip somewhere in the lab that needs to disappear. She must have gotten it when she saw me in the house."

Jazz laughed. "I'll get right on that, Danny. Danny?"

Suddenly a cold chill ran right up his spine, and he shivered his breath congealed in mist. "Ghost Sense," He explained wincing then sitting up.

Jazz knelt down reached under his bed and picked up his Fenton Thermos. Tossing it to Danny she said, "go get him hero."

Danny grinned catching the thermos transformed then phased out through the window to do his job. Jazz looked out the window swelling with pride in her baby brother.

Below them both on the first floor Maddie Fenton watched Danny Phantom fly out of her son's bedroom, Fenton thermos in hand, ready to do battle. She smiled proudly and pulled at another wire in the Fenton ghost monitor.

Behind her Jack came into the room. "Did the ghost alarm just go off?"

"Just a false alarm dear, some of the wires in here are crossed, I'll do a diagnostic now and fix it in the morning." She said smoothly. _No wonder Danny and Jasmine are so good at making up excuses._

"All right," Jack said. "I'm heading upstairs. Good night!"

"Good night dear," Maddie said. Once he was gone she sighed unhappily. No, lying to Jack wasn't going to do for very long. She had to find a way to keep him from hunting Danny. Maddie resolved to speak more to Miss Daily soon. A flair of light outside made Maddie turn and see Danny expertly catching the ghost of the day within his thermos. Maddie smiled. _My own little hero._ She thought. She added a few more questions to the mental list that she wanted to ask Miss Daily. _There has to be a way to get all our inventions to stop targeting Danny. I'll have to call her at school tomorrow to set up an appointment._ From now on Danny Phantom was going to find an unseen helper within the Fenton Household. _One thing for sure things are going to be very interesting from now on._


End file.
